Christopher Solar 🇨🇦
@christophersolar
Furniture designer/maker, cyclist, inside the Ottawa bubble. He/Him.
Here's an NCC sign at Lac Leamy park, same design as the one in the photo and almost the same map section.
Oh right, I missed this highlight of our affordable low-tax city. This stretch of sidewalk had heavy equipment driving over it for 4 years during LRT construction, but I guess it's outside the project boundaries so it wasn't replaced.
Good morning Mr. Mayor. Overflowing/broken garbage containers, filthy/broken glass, crumbled/rusting concrete barriers instead of proper bollards. This station opened a year and a half ago. None of these problems are new.
The chopped wrench (would have posted earlier but I was out of town). I cut off the open end, leaving about 8" of length over all -- a tradeoff between leverage and compactness. It's just so I can remove/remount rotors during the packing/unpacking process.
"We can't add to the financial burden" says the caption as the camera pans across a new car-dependent subdivision being built at the margins of the city. Thanks for the vision, Mr. Mayor.
The overall blue-to-green gradient is based off a starting image, a miscellaneous snapshot I took in BC.
Recent work: a tall wardrobe cabinet delivered yesterday to Hangar 11, the diplomatic reception space at YOW. The mosaic covering the back-lit doors is built from fragments of photographic images sourced from across the country.
Oh, the city's kinda-sorta putting cycling infrastructure on Gladstone EXCEPT in one of the most dangerous spots they're giving priority to a "staging area" for heavy trucks going into Preston Hardware. And the solution for cyclists is..."just go around", I guess?
The existence of my wife Rachel comes as quite a surprise to me (and to my partner, not named Rachel, wondering what I'm snickering at). Remember when Google was useful?
Was recently on this main street in Reggio Calabria, Italy. There's still limited vehicle access for the morning deliveries and garbage trucks etc. but otherwise it's pedestrian priority thanks to a few staggered bollards/planters. Same thing in Salerno as well. So simple and vibrant too.
Followed the well-marked Ciclovia dei Parchi Calabria (Calabria Parks Cycle Route) that consists of quiet, twisty, hilly roads, and passes through many small towns and four major national/regional parks. Rode gravel bikes with minimal bikepacking bags for overnight stays in inns/B&Bs.
Just got back from Italy, rode my bike the length of Calabria. Was great. Recommended. AMA if so inclined.
Scoping out OC Transpo options for a mid-day trip to the airport, and even if I'm **already at the Carleton O-Train station** the top two route suggestions involve using a bus. How is this possible?
TIL: Costco sells caskets. Seems you can buy them one at a time, at least. "Expedited Shipping" (to clarify, as far as I know I am not in the market for a casket)
Same author just a few years ago: "Justin Trudeau believes he is entitled to his entitlements and you are entitled to pay for them."
Uploading the LRT to Metrolinx is 0% about making the system more reliable and 100% about letting the mayor, council, and OC Transpo wash their hands of it. The latter is extremely appealing to them even if they know the system will be worse off.
Nice bridge, but: still officially closed for winter, only being used right now because frustrated residents forced the gate open a while ago.
Glebe parking garage vs. Nepean Costco & parking lot, for all the "my customers won't walk all the way from the garage" BIA doomers.
Not to be TOO picky, but this guy is giving the "thanks for understanding that I need to blow through this crosswalk" wave.
Meta's bullshit AI moderation system recently nuked my 88-yo mother's Instagram account. No recourse, no "click here it you think this was a mistake". What an absolute dogshit company.
Not just OK but superhuman! I saw almost all the boundaries this time.
I've been getting watermelon radishes for making Japanese pickles, and they would look great on those noodles!
The last project took a decidedly blockier, more brutalist form: a black wardrobe cabinet with a thin band of reclaimed copper set between the doors. The interior is a deep blue-green colour.
No way this album is 30 years old; I remember buying the CD like it was yesterday.