This Planet Money episode is directly responsible for my visit to McDonald’s this afternoon for french fries.

This video of Jodie Whittaker (Dr. Who, Broad Church, Black Mirror) singing Coldplay’s Yellow, backed by the band’s Jonny Buckland and Will Champion, is delightful if only for the look of pure joy on Whittaker’s face at 2:55 when, after she sings the prelude, the very-familiar-to-everyone-alive guitar and drums refrain kicks in.

The lovingly-named Rules, Regulations, Private Bills and Privileges Committee of the Legislative Assembly of PEI had a call for public comment on issues under its purview that closed last week. While my comments did not touch specifically on the issues being actively concerned by the committee, I thought them worthwhile of submission, as it is unlikely the these are issues members themselves would see as issues, being on “the other side of the rail” as they are. Here is what I submitted:

My concerns relate to how the experience of observing sittings of the Legislative Assembly and of Committees can be improved for citizens:

1. The security experience of attending a regular sitting has, understandably, been tightened in recent decades, and I do not dispute the need for this. However the unintended side-effect has been that citizens feel less welcome in our legislature. I believe this could be mitigated if the “front face” of the Legislative Assembly in this regard was improved.

The Commissionaires who currently manage this process are focused on the security aspects of admitting or denying entry; I would suggest that there is a role for a staff person, who would not be a security official, who could act as a greeter or welcomer and guide citizens through the security process and into the gallery, answering questions and working to ensure comfort along the way and throughout the sitting. Think of this role, perhaps most usefully, as the “maître d’” of the assembly.

2. The seating in the gallery, while perhaps historically appropriate, is very uncomfortable, and further reinforces this “we’re allowing you in here but don’t feel too welcome” feeling of visiting the legislature. Adding cushions to the church-pew-like seating would be a great service to citizens.

3. Those sitting on the government side of the public gallery have no way of knowing what time it is, as the clock is out of their view; this is exacerbated because cell phones are not allowed in the gallery, and many don’t wear a watch these days but rather rely on their phone to tell the time. Installing a clearly-viewable clock with a view from the gallery would mitigate this.

4. Citizens are not allowed to bring water into the gallery. It’s not clear why this is the case, but it would aid greatly, especially for long meetings and sittings, if those sitting in the gallery were either allowed to bring in water, or provided with access to it.

5. It would aid in the understanding of citizens if simplified copies of the Orders of the Day, or of committee agendas, were provided upon entrance to the gallery.

I’m happy to report that my feedback has already born fruit: when I attended this morning’s meeting of the Special Committee on Climate Change, there were copies of the agenda waiting in the public gallery.

I was, however, still not allowed access to drinking water. In time.

I sat in the public gallery in the legislature today for the second time to observe a meeting of the Special Committee on Climate Change, a committee struck “to explore the options available to reduce GHG emissions and to make fully costed recommendations on how the province can best meet its emission reduction targets.”

The meetings, I have found, are quite interesting: last week’s meeting featured a report from Todd Dupuis and Erin Taylor from Prince Edward Island’s Climate Change Secretariat, and this week’s was a presentation by Dale Beugin, the Executive Director of Canada’s Ecofiscal Commission.

In both cases I’ve not only learned a lot about emissions, emissions mitigation, PEI’s climate targets and options, and about carbon pricing, but, perhaps more importantly, I’ve gained insight, through their questions, into the minds of the Members of the Legislative Assembly, about what they know about climate change (and what they don’t know).

From a purely emotional point of view, it is comforting being in a room filled with politicians who, without exception, recognize that GHG reduction is an urgent issue, agree that action is needed, and agree that, despite our small size, we need to act boldly, when, outside in the regular everyday world, one is pummeled by half-truths and propaganda to the contrary.

It is also heartening to witness the much-discussed collaborative spirit of the legislators in the room: the questions they have been asking have been insightful, genuine, and have been successful in drawing information from witnesses that would have not otherwise emerged.

The next meeting date for the committee hasn’t been published yet, but you can watch out for it on the Calendar of Committee Meetings.

This is a great Tiny Desk concert: Taylor Swift, solo and acoustic.

Like the mighty Colorado River, Mount Edward Road in Charlottetown starts out gently and without much fanfare. From its source at St. Peters Road it flows northwest; as it progresses, the road builds up steam and changes character from a modest commercial street to a modest residential street and, finally, once it crosses the bypass, becomes a busy industrial chaos populated by all manner of cement trucks, courier trucks, lumber trucks, and pickup trucks. In these upper regions, as I discovered today, it is kind of the perfect opposite of “bicycle friendly,” sporting only the barest of pockmarked paved shoulders, and driven by drivers from whom bicycles are simply not expected.

I was on Mount Edward Road this afternoon on my way to Pure EV, the city’s nascent used electric vehicle dealership.

It is vehicle registration renewal season for our 2000 Jetta, and I’m doing my due diligence to determine whether our money and effort are better placed in keeping the Jetta on the road or transitioning to an electric vehicle. Being a family of modest means, Mike Kenny’s scheme to import used EVs from Lower Canada and resell them here on PEI is the ideal solution for us, as purchasing new would be beyond our reach.

It seemed wrong to go EV shopping in the Jetta, so I put my bicycle on the bus up to the Charlottetown Mall, rode out the back to the Confederation Trail, on the trail until it emerged on Mount Edward, then along to Sherwood Road and just up past Brown’s VW to Mike’s dealership.

I arrived on a good day, as Mike had two Nissan Leafs, a Kia Soul and a Tesla on the lot. We had a good chat about the challenges and opportunities of EV ownership, and then Mike put me in the drivers seat of the Soul, and then the Leaf, and we went for test drives together.

As I discovered when I drove my friend Trudy’s Chevy Bolt for the first time in May, after about 15 minutes the “E” part of driving an EV recedes into the background, and it’s “just a car.” Achieving this state in the Leaf and the Soul was helpful, as it gave me a chance to compare their fit and finish and their respective user interfaces, as well as their essential driveability. Although my test drives were quick, I’d say the Kia emerged the winner, perhaps because it’s tuned somewhat tighter than the Nissan, so the drive was closer to the tightly-wound Jetta that I’ve been driving for 19 years.

I came to no definitive conclusions as to the way forward, but evidence was added to the pile.

Mike, by the way, welcomes test drives from all and curious; if you are one of those “my next car will be an electric car” people, you will find no better maître d’ at the entrance to this new world than he.

Along the way to Pure EV I stopped at Gallant’s & Co., the weekday outpost of the folks who’ve been selling us our smoked salmon bagels at the Charlottetown Farmers’ Market in recent years. I enjoyed an order of fresh spring rolls and a tomato soup, followed by a solid cappuccino (espresso, north of the bypass: who ever thought!).

The hearty lunch fortified me for navigation up and back on the outer stretches of Mount Edward. I managed to emerge unharmed; I was, however, very happy to cross the bypass and get back on the quiet, peaceful  Confederation Trail for the ride back downtown.

It was heartening to be amidst an overflowing, diverse crowd packed into the Haviland Club tonight for the public launch of Bike Friendly Charlottetown:

We are an independent community group that advocates for accessible, safe and friendly cycling in the city of Charlottetown.

Our Vision: for people of all abilities to be able to cycle anywhere in Charlottetown using safe and accessible city-wide cycling infrastructure.

Oliver and I cycled over from 100 Prince Street, our visual cacophony of lights blazing. It was nice to see that others made the effort to cycle too: the Haviland Club’s (non-existent) bicycle parking was full.

My brother Mike recommended this episode of the Without Fail podcast, an interview of Ira Glass by Alex Blumberg. It’s very good, in a Luke-interviews-Obi-Wan kind of way.

A year ago today I started writing a summary of my day, every night at bedtime. With the exception of some missed weeks due travel, I’ve kept at it, and filled one Baron Fig Confidant and half of another.

My entries vary between a few quick lines and several detailed pages, depending on the ups and downs of the day. I’ve been very consistent in my format: I write the date in red (with a Pilot Metropolitan) and I write my notes in black (with a Nemosine Singularity). I keep bottles of red and black ink on my bedside so that I’m never in a situation where I can’t refill my pens if need be.

As it happens, on October 27, 2018 I was one week into an annoying fall cold; I find myself in the same situation today.

This all places me squarely in the tradition of my father, who has been taking notes on his day since before I was born.

We should stop talking about “residential beds” for people with disabilities and instead talk of “homes,” like we do for everyone else.