keeping sane, one word at a time
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Male; Age 25; Likes Ultimate Frisbee;
Here's a favorite quote of mine from Tropic of Cancer p.99, "I have found God, but he is insufficient. I am only spiritually dead. Physically I am alive. Morally I am free. The world which i have departed is a menagerie. The dawn is breaking on a new world, a jungle world in which the lean spirits roam with sharp claws. If I am a hyena I am a lean and hungry one: I go forth to fatten myself."
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Monday, August 30, 2004
And Here We Go Again...
I'm referring to my relationship with the National Student Loans Service Center (NSLSC), who seem to be out to get me. Being a student (and borrower) since '97 I'd like to think I'm somewhat aware of the process called "Confirmation of Enrollment", which involves sending a form to the NSLSC. The form contains your period of study and signature and the signature of someone at the Registrar's Office. I'm constantly surprised at how difficult it is to convince these people that I'm still in school. I was originally born in Manitoba, but went to school in Ontario, which makes me "out of province" - apparently the most complicated form of borrower:) and a brand I wouldn't wish on anyone. Anyway, although I have forgotten in the past, I'm confident my Schedule 2 (S2) form (the confirmation of enrollment) arrived before the deadline this year. I'll note here that it seems damn near impossible to talk to a human at NSLSC. Regardless, I was again deferred to Tricera (?spelling), which is the collection agency NSLSC uses. These guys seem to be quite a bit more severe and immediately begin acruing interest on your loan.... TBC
7:49 PM
Sunday, August 15, 2004
Nuclearity
Nuclear power seems to be the appropriate choice to fill any gaps in Canada's power supply for the near future, economically and environmentally. How many provinces actually need the power? Well, you can definitely put Ontario down for a few reactors, to replace existing fossil-fueled generation plants and the existing (and ageing) nuclear plants of Pickering and Bruce Stations. At approximately 23,000 MW of generating ability at any one instant, Ontario is in an energy crisis scenario every summer.
"As of September 30, 2003 OPG’s [Ontario Power Generation] electricity-generating portfolio had a total in-service capacity of 22, 733 megawatts (MW). This consisted of three operating nuclear stations with a capacity of 6,103 MW (comprising four units at Darlington, four units at Pickering B and one unit at Pickering A); six fossil-fueled stations with a capacity of 9,700 MW; 36 hydroelectric stations with a capacity of 6,796 MW; and 32 EcoLogoM-certified green power stations (29 hydroelectric and three wind) with a capacity of 134 MW. Two nuclear stations, formerly operated by OPG, are leased on a long-term basis to Bruce Power L.P. " (Source: www.opg.com)
Manitoba (www.hydro.mb.ca) and Quebec have well established hydro generation programs that supply 100% of their power (at least in MB). Manitoba is expecting to export about $350 M in hydro electric power in the coming year. How does nuclear power stand in Canada (http://www.nuclearfaq.ca/)? There are a bunch of neat sites on nuclear power, both for(http://pw1.netcom.com/~res95/energy/nuclear.html) and against (http://www.citizen.org/CMEP/). So, what's going on in the other provinces? I'm going to find out.
9:41 PM
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