I like her style

On CBC :

Fredericton woman wants backyard chickens

What a great idea! While I am sure she isn't the first person to think of it, I am happy that people are starting to think forward and think of solutions. 

Maybe this is an idea for Iceland too, we could start in Keiler....

The Keilir Scam

This is a very long post...

To start from the beginning:

Once upon a time the was a NATO base built in Iceland. It was huge, compared to the rest of the population, housing up to 7000 people.

This housing had all the furniture and appliances a person could need.

There was also a grocery store, swimming pool, several gyms, restaurant, garages, vehicles, movie theater, really you name it. This place had everything.

Then the Americans left. It was true that a lot of jobs were lost, it took a lot of people to service this town, but they left a town behind.

They left everything! In fact, many apartments had even been recently been redone and had new appliances (like the one I am in :)) .

Everything was left to Iceland.

Now, thanks to the Icelandic way, filled with corruption (everything is about who you know ) friends of people in charge were basically given what could be sold and made a lot of money.

What could not be sold was stuffed into other buildings.

Furniture, gym equipment and appliances are still being sold, by people privately. And we all know how they came about all this stuff.

In a wasteful way, things that could not be sold here have been thrown away by the container full. Televisions, air purifying units and personal items left behind. Some apartments are still being emptied and I have seen bins full of clothing, Christmas lights and chairs. Everything.

What was left was some empty apartments. At least they are trying to make sure that is all that is left.

So these empty houses are rented out by Keilir as student housing for all the schools. Including the Universities in Reykjavik, you can catch a bus to school and back everyday. Keilir is also a school, similar to NAIT.

So Keilir in in charge of renting out these apartments.

Keilir is also a private school.

So this is what does not add up:

Although the housing is dirt cheap, compared to what you would pay in the city, it is still expensive enough that student qualify for full rent subsidy from the government to help pay the rent. In my case, this is 36000 a month. Really, a lot of tax money going to this private, for profit school, very month.

Please remember that these houses were free, there is no mortgage to pay on them. They have everything they need.

Then there is the hidden fees. 8000 a month for utilities and Internet. Fair enough, except if you actually want to use the Internet you have to pay another 1500 a month. There is also a 25000 a month house fee, to pay for someone to clean the hallways in the building.

We worked it out to 30000 a month that is paid for someone to vacuum the hallway every couple weeks. Probably takes 5 min each building and they do a crappy job. Looks like a contract given out to someones brother, who then pays some foreigner 120000 a month while collecting several hundred thousand. I am tempted to refuse to pay. I will clean my own part of the hallway, and Ill do a better job.

So this company, posing as a school, is making a fortune off students and the country by collecting rent and rent subsidy off students.

This is a depression, caused by the super rich, and I am surprised Icelanders will sit by and watch another rich group, rob the country more.

A better idea! At least I think so and if I were in charge this is what I would do:

I understand that if housing is completely free it would be destroyed, people generally do not appreciate what is given to them. So a small amount has to be charged.

I do not think rent subsidy should be collected, so the rent could be the amount that would be paid if you did not get reimbursed with subsidy. Example: My rent is 81000, but I get 36000 back every month. So the rent for this place should be 45000.

This rent money would include all utilities, because everyone knows it is all run by hot water and I can see the steam coming from the ground from here. Very low cost.

The rent money collected would go towards services for the people living here.

As it is we do get free busing to Reykjavík, but more then 4 buses a day would be nice. Maybe every hour. As it is the buses are always full and it does take a lot of traffic off the road.

The playschool and afterschool care would be free.

The swimming pool would be opened.

The rest would probably be eaten up by maintenance of the base-town.

The furniture and appliances would be put back in apartments.

With such great services, more people would move here. As it is only 1500 people live here, when it could be 7000.

More people paying rent means better services.

Maybe we could even open the movie theater.

This was left to Iceland and should be used as a benefit to all of Iceland.

One way this could be done is by making it a supportive place to live, help family's get an education.

This should not just be another opportunity for some super rich to take money no one even has anymore, to become more super rich.

Blog Action Day 3 - Why Travel????

With the exception of visiting family from time to time, I will never understand the traveller mentality.

I can think of a few good reasons, right now, why you should consider just staying home.

1. Unless you are walking, odds are you are creating a huge carbon debt with your trip. That 'cheap airfare' to just pop over somewhere for a weekend has other costs.
2. Chances are, when you are on your trip you will consume more then if you would have stayed home.
3. You are not a better person or more interesting because you have been to a few places.
4. If you really just want to sleep somewhere different, try trading apartments with a friend.
5. If you stay home, you can catch up on all those things you just never have time for! Like setting up a greenhouse in your backyard or going to the gym.
6. You are not going to learn anything by experiencing another culture for a few days. If you really want the experience, then move there. After a year or so you will get over the culture shock and will really 'experience' the country.
7. If you really need a photo with yourself beside some great art or tower, you can always just download a picture of it and copy and paste yourself onto it. It really is just as good.
8. There is a reason kids are terrible while travelling, deep down inside they know it is unnecessary.

I could go on, but I think this is enough. It is something that I feel very strongly about and might sound a little harsh.

Remember you can get away from it all without going far - just have an imagination. There is so much so close by.

Blog Action Day 2 - Local Food

I know it is no fun eating the same thing all the time, and who does not like something different and foreign?

But where is it from and how did it get here?

I live in Iceland so when I go to the grocery store to buy fruit I know all the apples, oranges, grapes, melons and other tasty treats are not from around here. They have actually been flown in.

On AIRPLANES! Planes burn huge amounts of fossil fuels and contribute greatly to global warming.

We have food in Iceland so it does not need to be flown in to keep us from starving, it just gives a little more variety from the usual tomatoes and cucumbers.

When I lived in Canada, things were not much different. The strawberries were brought in from Mexico just so I could eat Strawberries in January. Other fruits were brought from California, fruit that also grows in British Colombia. Ridiculous really.

Imagine if everyone ate locally grown food. Imagine all the traffic and needless shipping that could be avoided. Imagine how much cleaner the air would smell.

If this does not convince you, think about this: Locally grown or raised foods are fresher and should contain a high amount of nutrients. It is just healthier.

Blog Action Day 1 - STUFF

Stuff = Extra clothing, a 50th pair of shoes, decorations and other crap you really do not need.

1. When you buy new stuff, you often throw out old stuff - adding to the land fill.
2. When you buy new stuff, you must dispose of packaging. There is almost always far more packaging then what is needed. Plastic packaging, need I say more??
3. You probably drove your car to the store because no one likes to carry stuff home or on the bus.
4. The stuff did not magically get to the store, it most likely travelled very far from a place that can make cheap stuff like China or maybe Poland. The trip to your store was long and polluting.
5. When you buy stuff from these countries with little or no environmental protection laws you know they are destroying more then they are creating.

So buy less stuff, make it last, save money and save some earth.

Two Needs

In Iceland two groups of people are generally forgotten about and neglected.

The school age children are often dropped off at school at 7:30 a.m. and left there until 5:30. Some kids stay even later in the after after school care until about 8:00. This is a long time for kids to be left at the schools being basically ignored, mostly due to under staffing, or being watched by underpaid young adults.

These kids always just want to talk to you, they just want to talk to someone and be heard.

Seniors are in a situation that is no better, maybe even worse. In Iceland you do not see seniors going around on the buses much, or doing the early morning walk at the mall like you would see in Canada. The buses are not friendly towards wheel chairs or walking aids because they have stairs. No one is at the mall in the morning.

If you want to see seniors, old ones at least, you have to go to a nursing home. Most of the people in these homes have been completely forgotten by their families. Visitors are few and far between. It is like they no longer exist, except to the underpaid and under staffed nursing aids who care for them night and day.

Even the most important things are often forgotten. Families are expected to pick up dirty laundry and bring clean clothing, this is often neglected leaving nurses to do laundry.

Last weekend I saw a man turn 90, and no one came by to visit. There was no cake or gift. Not even a phone call. His children were busy. One called three days later, only because she remembered that she had forgotten his laundry last week. We do what we can, clean his clothing, sing him a song, but we are not family.

These people just want to talk to someone or listen. They are amazing people with great patience and stories to tell.

So this is my idea: It is about time these two groups of people were brought together.

I think the after school programs should all make plans with the neighbourhood nursing home and create a visiting program.

These are the details that I have thought of so far:

1. The kids would be split into groups and each group, once a month would take the bus or walk to the nursing home.
2. The visits would be timed with visiting time and the nurses could match kid with a senior who is alone and would want a visitor.
3. The pair should be mixed up often to avoid kids being traumatized when the old people die, because this happens.
4. I know the after school care has access to a bus two days a week, so no extra funding would be needed.

I honestly have no idea how to get something like this going, but I think it would be great so I will talk to Kasper's school on Monday.

Just think: The kids would have someone to talk to, visit with, look up too and pay attention to just them. The seniors would have someone to talk to and listen, they like to listen, while feeling important, like they should.

Maybe the kids could even learn a little respect for older people.

The 9 Month Pass

The Nine Month Blue Card - for the bus - is a real deal. If you trust yourself not to lose the thing.

That is what stresses me out the most. If I spend more then 30000 on a card, then my wallet falls out of my pocket. It would be more valuable to anyone.

I would worry more about my bus pass then my Visa or debit card.

So this is my idea, and if I was in charge, this is how it would be, when you pay for the 9 month pass you would get 9 one month passes. Each one would be stamped with starting and ending dates and only good during those times.

Then if I lose one, or spill coffee all over it cause that has happened before, I might cry, but I would not have some sort of nervous breakdown.

If I was in charge of Stætó, things would be better.