Keith's Odyssey to Planet Fitness: Just one signature

Monday, August 25, 2025

Just one signature

There are days I think I'm living in one of those low probability timelines. Let me explain. Maybe it will make sense. Or not.

You might have heard the term multiverse, or the many-worlds theory. The idea is that worlds split off as decisions are made. Maybe there's a small group of worlds that are quite similar, sort of like the main line, and other, less probable worlds branch off. Maybe my choice to have a second cup of coffee or not, or to have a peanut butter sandwich for breakfast instead of granola doesn't really matter.

But Trump getting elected is a big deal, and to my mind was improbable the first time, and mind blowing the second time. It seems like a majority of Americans have lost their marbles, those being the ones that actually voted for him as well as those that didn't care enough to get out and vote against. Maybe that created a world spinning off not just into left field, but right into la-la land. And the particular version of me that's writing this is in that world.

Maybe there are other versions of me in other worlds, and who knows what they're like? And to be honest, thinking back to some of my youthful adventures that I hope my mom doesn't know about, maybe there's worlds where I'm not here at all.

Then we come to Alberta. Bailed out by the feds in the 30's, then oil was discovered. The gravy train has flowed ever since, overseen by a series of incompetent conservative governments kowtowing to the oil industry and giving away our heritage, with the Lougheed government being the sole exception. All the various stripes of conservative governments have continued the policy of giving away the store and raiding the piggy bank. With better planning we could have a sovereign wealth fund like Norway.

All this while bitching about the situation and how hard done by we are in Canada. Equalization is one of the favourite hobby horses, and it's clear the people complaining don't understand it. They get annoyed when told a conservative government led by an Albertan (Harper) enacted the current version of the equalization formula, and that the premier who used it to whip up partisan frenzy actually voted for it as part of that government.

Rather than working to improve what is seen to be annoying about the current situation by negotiating with the feds and other provinces, like grownups, there's a minority that wants to take their ball and go home. Plus hold their breath till they turn blue, and take that!

There's always been talk of separatism in Alberta. It's a way of bitching that doesn't address the core problem; voter numbers and voter stupidity. I talk about it here, and there's no need to repeat myself. Actually there probably is, but I'm not going to.

Now there's a group pushing for a referendum on Alberta being sovereign (but within Canada, with the details varying depending on who you talk to), touting facts and reasoning that a bright 10 year old can see through. My opinion is that it's an attempt to distract people from noticing the outright incompetence of the Smith government. She is a twice failed politician who is in the middle of her third strike out. I'm pretty sure she only ran for premier to raise her profile and increase the number of people listening to her radio bleats. Then like the dog who caught the car, wonders what to do with it.

All Alberta separating will accomplish, if it could be done at all, is to allow the USA to snap it up. I don't even want to visit the US, and certainly don't want to live in it. Why on earth would any sane person want to live in a place that thinks children getting shot in school, again and again, isn't a problem worth solving? That referendum has been referred to the courts because of the constitution problems.

The other petition, that affirms Alberta staying in Canada, has about 3,000 people out collecting signatures, and people are lining up in droves. There was a station set up at Glennfield yesterday. The plan was to go, assess the lineup, and decide to join in, or come back another time, and then go for a walk in that area. I'm there periodically, and it's a nice walk along the river, but Linda hasn't been there in awhile.

We got there just as a couple people left. We sat down, and took a few minutes to fill out the form. It has to be done in person, not online. Name, address, contact information. As we left, more people were joining. When we walked past it again after our stroll, the table was full and a half dozen people were milling around waiting. The atmosphere was jovial and relaxed. If that continued the rest of the time, and Glennfield is a busy place, they could easily walk away with 500 signatures. The news reported that 2 volunteers at another location collected 8,000 signatures on one day. Yay!

There haven't been any progress reports that I know of. I don't know if some poor sod has to go through all the many filled out pages and somehow compile them into a database so they can tell if someone signed twice, or somebody that isn't actually living here has signed. In any case, I hope there's so many it overwhelms the separatists and they give up on the other petition even before a judge consigns it to perdition. And then, of course, when that happens you know they'll start bleating about unelected judges.

Sigh. Given that some people here (and elsewhere) believe that vaccines are worse than the disease, that nobody has been to the moon, and the earth is flat, maybe that's too much to hope for.

Some photos from the walk after signing. The mosquitoes were really bad.