Dogs are now allowed on the metro.
Updates from October, 2022 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
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Kate
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Kate
With new area codes arriving this week, La Presse’s Judith Lachapelle surveys the history of telephony in Montreal, mentioning how 450 came to be a stigma of suburbia and claiming that “D’une certaine façon, le 514 est désormais… un numéro de « vieux »!”
Ephraim
For those who don’t know, area codes were originally given based on the number of clicks to dial a number, where 0 is really 10 clicks and 1 is just 1. The areas that had multiple codes per state/province were given 1s in the middle. The importance of a city related to the total number of clicks with the less clicks being the most important cities. Hence 212 being the best area code and 213 and 312 being the next best. 5 clicks, then 6 clicks, etc. New York city, Los Angeles and Chicago respectively. You can see the original 1947 map at https://www.lincmad.com/map1947.html
So the lower the clicks, historically the more prestigious the code.
shawn
I didn’t know that! Interesting.
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Kate
By testing blood donations, McGill researcher Timothy Evans discovered that 73.7% of Quebec donors have caught Covid, the highest rate among Canadian provinces. The results show that younger people have caught a lot more Covid, even though the study couldn’t assess the rate among people under 18 because you can’t give blood till then.
Ephraim
Sorry, correction “… that young DONORS caught….” Remember that the set of donors and the set of Quebecois are different, even though a significant part of the Venn diagram overlaps. To see who can donate, go to https://www.hema-quebec.qc.ca/sang/donneur-sang/puis-je-donner/index.en.html
While MSM are now allowed in some cases, people often don’t know that anyone who spent more than 3 months in the UK or France between 1980 and 1996 are banned from donating blood in Quebec (Creutzfeldt-Jakob, and there are other criteria for Europe and Saudi Arabia). People who have had malaria are permanently banned (but can donate plasma) etc.
Kate
I know that one regular reader of this blog is not allowed, since he’s from Europe, and I’ve a friend who spent more time than that in the UK, so she can’t either.
Is MSM “men who have sex with men”?
I gave blood in the summer for the first time in many years, but I think I’ll make a point now of going as often as I can, since so many people are disqualified.
Tee Owe
I am one of those banned due to living (and eating beef) in the UK early ’80s. I know that blood donors are particularly motivated, altruistic people but I think their susceptibility to Covid19 is no different to anyone else so data from this group are indeed representative of the general population – Dr Evans’ study is meaningful and useful
Ephraim
Yes MSM is Men who have Sex with Men. And it’s no longer a forbidden group… but there are caveats… like you can be in a polyamorous exclusive relationship and be excluded.
dhomas
I thought MSM stood for “MainStream Media”.
Ephraim
Better tell the CDC… https://www.cdc.gov/std/treatment-guidelines/msm.htm
dhomas
Better tell the dictionary…
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/MSMcarswell
Point taken, dhomas. But major dictionaries are notoriously slow to embrace new usages and have to deal with homophobia — internal in some cases but also external, as in there are probably school districts and public libraries in the US that would ban Webster’s if it mentioned man-on-man sex. Webster’s even treats the issue of same-sex marriage, the law of the land, with kid gloves, including a usage note that proclaims it “highly controversial” and only mentioning the phrase in connection with Obergefell v. Hodges.
jeather
I’ve had this issue with the two known to me uses of FTM and of CBT. Both are at least usually distinguishable by context
Blork
There’s no law that says a TLA (three-letter acronym) must have only one definition. To wit: CIA = Central Intelligence Agency and CIA = Culinary Institute of America.
And there is no “the” dictionary. There are MANY dictionaries in any language, and they don’t all agree.
dhomas
I know there’s no law about TLAs and no “the” dictionary. I was just cheekily reusing the same sentence structure from the reply above mine. And my previous comment was more about sharing that I learned a new meaning for this acronym, as I was only aware of one beforehand.
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Kate
Shots were heard early Saturday in Ville‑Émard, but no victim turned up.
I think TVA found itself equally short of news Saturday morning, reporting the non‑fatal collision of two cars at Berri and Sherbrooke.
dhomas 13:56 on 2022-10-15 Permalink
I took the metro to a birthday party for my son today and saw someone come out with a dog at Angrignon metro. I also saw the sign mentioning that dogs are now allowed. The dog seemed young, playful and very cute, but also knocked a newspaper out of another passenger’s hands. The other passenger laughed it off, but I’m not sure how this will play out in the long run.
Kate 19:47 on 2022-10-15 Permalink
I tend to forget there are still printed newspapers.
But it’s still a pilot project, so we’ll see. It might take a few dogfights on a platform or a moving train to make the STM decide against it.
Marc 23:05 on 2022-10-15 Permalink
Too bad for me, I have diagnosed allergic asthma so seems like I have no other choice but to drive where I’m going now! That said, I’m glad that dog owners who can’t afford private transportation can now bring their animals to and from the vet, which I understand to be the primary purpose of this change in policy.
Uatu 09:35 on 2022-10-16 Permalink
I’m allergic as well. I guess I’ll wear an n95 mask. At least the pandemic doesn’t make it seem weird.
carswell 10:36 on 2022-10-16 Permalink
Maybe people who can’t afford to take a large animal to the vet in a taxi shouldn’t acquire a large animal? And that’s setting aside the question of why anyone should be allowed to have a large animal in a city.
But thanks to the STM for showing us that animals-are-human trumps actual humans.
I know I’ll be taking the metro less often and am already fantasizing about buying a car, something I can’t really afford, don’t otherwise need or want and that would hugely expand my currently small carbon footprint..
JP 11:21 on 2022-10-16 Permalink
Yeah, ditto to all of the above. I have a car, but use it for about 50% of trips. When going downtown, I usually take the metro. I suspect that 50-50 ratio, will gradually go up in favour of using the car.
I have a phobia of dogs (I can manage it somewhat but mostly I prefer distance). I’m planning to take the metro today and already feel the anxiety.
MarcG 11:30 on 2022-10-16 Permalink
I asked before but I’ll ask again: Why don’t they restrict them to the first or last car like bicycles?
carswell 11:45 on 2022-10-16 Permalink
They’re banned from the first car because that’s where bikes go and, unfortunately, where groups of kids on field trips go too.
I suspect some of the thinking is that, having dogs spread through the train instead of concentrated in one or two cars will help avoid dog-to-dog encounters.
I don’t understand why bikes aren’t allowed on the first and last cars of the train. More and more cyclists are bringing their rusty steeds on the metro and the front car can get crowded, especially when you throw a bunch of field-tripping schoolkids into the mix. I’ve come close to not being able to board the front car a couple of times this summer because of the number of bikes already in it. Also, taking the example of Lionel Groulx, if I’m heading downtown on the orange line and want to transfer to the green line, I have to push my bike across the platform and all the way down to the other end, instead of just crossing the platform as I could if bikes were allowed in the last car. Even outside of rush hour, the station can be full of people not paying attention to where they’re going making navigating the bike tricky and potentially dangerous.