i got a compost run in today and finished my grocery shopping for the month, minus a few top-ups near the end.

i got lucky with good prices on tomatoes and cheese. she could still give me the $58, but i doubt it's going to happen. in fact, i think she's going to insist i dismantle the fans, and eat the $50.

they're not smart people.

it was tight, but i'm clear, and with $8 to spare until next friday, when the ontario tax credit comes in. that will give me $69, total, for the rest of the month - which is probably enough to get out once. but, i'm not sure i'm going to even want to, yet.

july should offset for me into a normal month because it's a gst month. but, of the years i've been here, july tends to be weak for concerts, too - or at least weak for my tastes. i guess it's festival season, and i'm just not a festival person.

what i'm actually thinking is that i should be more productive over the summer, hopefully. but we'll see what i can find.

right now, my feet are sore again from walking and i still have cleaning to do tomorrow, so i won't be back to doing anything until saturday, probably.

so, how do we even try to understand what trump is saying about the paris agreement?

he seems to be of the opinion that the regulations are going to hurt business, which is probably sort of true. but, he wants to specifically argue that it's going to make the country less competitive.

what this clearly implies is that he sees pulling out of the agreement as an opportunity to gain a competitive advantage over the rest of the world. while all of the other dumb countries are trying to reduce emissions, america will eliminate regulations, thereby bringing back the jobs.

of course, that won't work, anyway.

but, this is equivalent to assigning america as the world's pollution dump. what he's saying is he wants to import the world's pollution, by bringing back the dirtiest production, and not putting any restrictions on it.

and, he thinks he's outsmarting the rest of the world by doing it.

so, when he's talking about making a better deal, what that means is creating a new agreement that allows america to be more competitive by giving polluters more space to pollute.

this whole thing about needing to work together to reduce emissions just isn't a part of the calculus. he's solely concerned with trying to find ways to trick other countries into taking on a greater burden, and ways for american companies to pollute more. so, he's at least in favour of emissions targets in other countries - because that will make america more attractive for polluters.

that donald. he's smart, all right.

what can the rest of the world do but start to consider real sanctions against this government? this is beyond absurd. if trump's only concern is making america more attractive to polluters, the rest of the world has to boycott those polluters.

there's not another choice.

the judge was initially pushing me to provide an empirical basis, but in the end she shifted the burden of proof to them, which is actually in accordance with the existing case law: the premise of second hand smoke affecting my enjoyment of the premises is a purely subjective/experiential thing, by definition, so it falls on them to demonstrate that the air is free of smoke if they wish to justify their interference with my enjoyment of the space. it's the correct legal answer to the question, as i posed it.

so, i'm allowed to run the fan unless they can prove i'm making the whole thing up.

the property owners are, in fact, resisting the court order - which is why i requested the wall.

maybe she can call the cops and have them threaten me, again?

the judge seemed to realize the inevitability of this. the actual order is as follows:

1) they need to either

a) get the air professionally checked or
b) just install a fan.

2) if they don't do either of these things, i can deduct $50 a month from the rent indefinitely, until they do. a little less effective than the wall, but so be it.
3) i also get costs, at $58. that is, $50 for the app and $8 for the coal. if they don't pay me costs before june 15th, i can deduct it from july's rent.

i'm just as happy to leave the fan as it is, so i won't deduct the $50 over july unless they demand i dismantle it, without checking the air to demonstrate it's clarity (and the ruling did not provide for a ppm, so i'll accept trace amounts as justification). the smokers are moving out, as it is. so, as long as they don't bother me for the next month, it should blow over just fine.

but, they're pushing back on costs - they want a receipt for the coal, as though they think this is some kind of negotiation and they get to make a "deal".

it's a fucking court order to pay costs, you goddamned idiots. you can let me take it off june or you can give me cash or i can unilaterally take it off july.

"that's unacceptable. i need a receipt."

you need to learn how to fucking read, actually, is what it looks like to me.

ugh.

so, i'm apparently out the $58 until july 1st. *shrug*. i'll survive just fine.