electricland

You can only remain zen about City Hall and allow its idiosyncracies to flow past you without fundamentally disturbing you. Because City Hall is bigger than you, and if you try to fight back, it will always win. You must stay peaceful, grounded, yet alert and ready for its next move.

(Translation: I went and paid for our Quick Service water main upgrade today. This cannot be done at City Hall, which as many of you know I can actually see from my office; no, you have to go to the Water and Wastewater Service place at 505 Richmond St. W. (which is at Augusta, for future reference, and open from 8:30 to 4:30 -- they were commendably quick about replying to my email). The next step is to call the guy who arranges site inspections, who is only at his desk between 7 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. When he comes to do the site inspection, he will give us the name and number of the city's contractor, who we will then call to arrange to do the actual work and to quote on connecting the city's part of the water main to our house.)

Zen.