Hey Calgary, I'll be giving a public talk at the Telus Science Centre on Wednesday evening at 7:30 MDT about discoveries in the outer Solar System, testing the Planet 9 theory, and how satellites are destroying astronomy as well as the atmosphere and future use of low Earth orbit: https://www.meetup.com/the-calgary-astronomy-meetup-group/events/299157146/
I'll also be giving a more dynamics-heavy version of the talk for the physics/astro department at the university.
That is, assuming I can actually get to Calgary, and I actually finish my talk slides, and my kids aren't sick... travel is so hard (and stressful), no wonder I have done almost all of my talks over Zoom for the past 5 years (well, that and avoiding covid. Which I will continue to be very very careful about not catching on this trip...hooray for N95's)
(I totally support teachers going on strike, but did it have to be Wednesday?! Hmm...maybe I can take the kids to Calgary with me since my partner is a non-unionized teacher and won't be on strike?)
Should I agree to give a live radio interview while pulled over in a truck stop halfway between Calgary and Regina on Friday? Because that's the only way it'll happen...
Rental car is obtained, talks are both done(ish), teaching stuff is uploaded, partner has arranged for a substitute teacher to cover class so our kids won't be home alone all day tomorrow during teacher strike, radio interview is scheduled for a time I won't be driving, bag is half packed, podcasts are downloaded.
The weather forecast looks shitty and my email is a dumpster fire. But I'm definitely more ready for my Calgary trip than I expected to be when my kids got home from school. Phew.
Oh, and the goats have been moved to the lowest-energy-input state (no more milking ☹️ , giant hay bales set up, everyone stays in the big daytime barn overnight because it's warm enough now and then they don't have to be moved around at all) so my partner can manage everything while I'm gone!
Giving a talk in a planetarium dome was SO COOL. Definitely my second favourite location I've given a talk, ever - they even put Starlink satellites moving across the dome over the realistic Milky Way-filled starscape to add to the horror. Wow.
(First favourite: outdoors at Cypress Hills for the Saskatchewan Summer Star Party a few years ago)
@sundogplanets I don't know how it works in Canada but here, when a strike is announced, it's not important if you're unionized or not, you can strike freely with no risk of losing your job 🤓 the union shield covers all the workers.
@ranx Canada doesn't have nearly that amazing strike laws. When the first teachers strike happened, I contacted my union head and asked "Can we strike in solidarity?!" and she was like "that is totally not how this works"
So... too bad. But one of us will definitely have to miss some work as a result of this strike, so effectively we're striking...
@sundogplanets yes, solidarity strike can happen only if your union decides to do so. strikes usually work by category unless it's announced a general strike.
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