The Irrelevant Motion

This blog is written mostly tongue-in-cheek. There may be something informative however. Please provide your feedback.
If you suffer from self-irrelevancy, please seek professional advice.

Hello. Tonight the Liberal leadership convention began. While I didn't see all of it, apparently Howard Dean's speech was much better than what people expected. He was a controversial keynote speaker, yet delivered by comparing the Liberals to the US Democrats.
What I found interesting, however, is that apparently the motion to make Quebecois a "nation within a nation" which was approved by the House of Commons on Monday, is supposedly not going to be debated at this convention. If that is so, then why not? Could this motion be in fact irrelevant?
I believe it is, because it does not change the Canadian Constitution. If there were changes to the Constitution included in the motion, it would've never passed as it did. It would be the biggest issue this country has probably ever faced.
My irrelevant beliefs on the whole Quebec situation are the following:

1. Quebec will never sign on to any of the parts of the Constitution because it would lose a lot of its political power
2. No political party will ever force Quebec to sign
3. Quebec will never separate if the situation stays as it is
4. Quebec will never separate if the situation changes
5. Politicians should stop worrying about this situation

Does this mean Michael Chong and Gerard Kennedy made mistakes by making their true (which I believe they were) feelings known? In Chong's case yes. In Kennedy's case no. I would not be surprised if Kennedy or Stephane Dion got in Saturday as Liberal leader because of this issue.

An unscientific poll by TVO's The Agenda program asked Ontarians if they agreed with the motion. 89% said no. If a Liberal leader is elected because of this motion, that individual may have difficulty getting votes in Ontario if that's a major party platform.

It should be an interesting campaign. For once, I don't think anyone will predict who will win.

Regards,

Irrelevant

The Irrelevant Federal Cabinet Minister

This blog is written mostly tongue in cheek, with some informative points. Please provide your feedback.
If you suffer from self-irrelevancy, please seek professional advice.

Hello. Yesterday, a motion was placed in the House of Commons to recognize 'Quebecois' as a "nation within a nation". Apparently the definitions of 'Quebecois' and 'nation within a nation' were unclear. The vote was a landslide in favour of the motion, with only 16 opposed. However, there was some fallout.
Michael Chong, the MP in my riding, resigned his cabinet post as Intergovernmental Minister. His reason was that, as a cabinet minister, he had to vote in favour of the motion, even though he personally opposed it. He therefore had to resign his position in order to oppose the motion.
Michael Chong, the independent cabinet minister, had become irrelevant. He did not fit into a system of compliance. I have a great deal of respect for Mr. Chong. I have more now. He could've towed the party line. Instead he took a step towards relevancy. And as a result, he has probably sacrificed his political career, at least with the federal Conservatives.
Gerard Kennedy, federal Liberal leader candidate, made a similar statement. He was running 3rd in the polls. He also took a step towards relevancy. It may also win him the Liberal leadership, but probably not. He will be seen by many of his party as a loose cannon.
Chong and Kennedy have shown that MPs are in a system that rewards irrelevancy. Garth Turner, former Conservative in Halton riding, now an Independent, pointed this out last month. It's better to stay quiet and collect your pay than speak out, which seems to be the opposite of democracy.
Good luck to both Chong and Kennedy. I hope their new found relevancy is worth the price.

Regards,
Irrelevant

The Irrelevant Phone Customer

This blog is written mostly tongue in cheek with some informative items mixed in. Please provide your feedback.
If you suffer from self-irrelevancy, please seek professional advice.

Hello. Today I spent over an hour on the phone trying to get info. One call was for ticket info. The other was a logon to look at my portfolio. In both cases, I'd left a half hour to make the calls. Mistake! I'm convinced you need over an hour whenever you have to call a help/ticket line.
Why? First you have to get through the automated part. If you lucky to get the exact directions you need to get what you want, go buy a lottery ticket immediately! If your request is more obscure (as I found out mine was), please ensure you hit the correct buttons. Guessing is probably your best bet, as the directions are not very clear. Be warned that one wrong guess will send you back to the main menu to try again.
If you can avoid the automated infinite loop, the next phase is waiting for a live person. That alone will take at least half an hour on average. In the meantime you'll be comforted by sounds self-described as music playing at too high a volume which you're helpless to change. For that reason I recommend a speakerphone and privacy.
If you do get a live person (I did once today), you'll probably find as I did they are not in the right area. Before they transfer you, please ask them for the number they're transferring you to. Otherwise, when (not if) you get cut off, you'll have to start over.
Could these things be avoided? Of course. Will anyone take the action to do it? No way. Why bother? After all, you're an irrelevant phone customer. Use the web, and leave my phones alone will be the company cheer. Of course, the web doesn't give the answer either, but at least it is honest about thinking you're irrelevancy. And that type of honesty money can't buy.

Regards,
Irrelevant

The Irrelevant Mall Walker

This blog is written mostly tongue in cheek, with some informative points. Please provide feedback.
If you are suffering from self-irrelevancy, please seek professional advice.

Hello. The other day I was to meet a friend for lunch in a big mall. I arrived early, so I thought I'd look around.
For me, this was a big attitude change. Usually I'm in and out of stores as quickly as possible. I don't want to do anything besides achieve my purpose. I have a written list of things to buy. I hardly ever lose my focus. I'm on a mission. I figure I've saved thousands of dollars as a result.
This time I went looking at the different stores. I was only interested in things like store colours, space, # of staff members, # of customers. I took my time, walking much slower than normal. I made eye contact. I smiled. I browsed. I even talked to one store person.
What happened? Nothing! I was in shock. No one pressured me. No one cared if I bought anything. No one thought I was loitering. It was a totally different experience. Revolutionary, in fact.
Golfers refer to this as "taking time to smell the roses". And now that I know what I do is irrelevant in a mall, I'm going to do it more often.

Regards,
Irrelevant

The Irrelevant Petowner

This blog is written mostly tongue in cheek, with some informative comments. Please provide your feedback.
If you suffer from self-irrelevancy, please seek professional advice.

Hello. The same thing that makes a parent irrelevant (see Tuesday's blog) makes a petowner irrelevant. I'm known as my dog's walker. Everyone knows my dog's name, but not mine. To them I'm Irrelevant.
A member of the opposite sex talked today to me about my dog. If I were young and single, I would've asked for a name. However, I realized I was not a topic of interest. People only talk to petowners about the pet's characteristics. They have no interest in the petowner.
Is this fair? Perhaps not. Being a petowner shows some signs of responsibility. How a petowner treats a pet can say a lot about that person. However, a petowner can never make a first impression because the pet is always noticed first.
Do I take it personally? Absolutely not. It's unfortunately the same thing as noticing a person in a wheelchair. The wheelchair gets noticed first.
Will this ever change? Probably not. Again, I don't care, because it allows me freedom. I can walk anywhere and not get noticed. I'm hidden in plain sight. I've found a new form of invisibility. I'm one step closer to being a spirit. I'm Irrelevant, and proud of it.
Get a pet now, and lose your identity.

Regards,
Irrelevant

The Irrelevant Parent

This blog is written mostly tongue in cheek. It may be informative however. Please provide your feedback.
If you suffer from self-irrelevancy, please seek professional advice.

Hello. To most people I'm my daughter's or son's dad. I do not have a name because I'm Irrelevant.
Having said that, they are in the same boat. I know the parent's of other kids as someone's dad or mom. It's tough enough remembering the kids' names.
We parents still talk to each other. We just don't know each others' names. And if someone did tell me their name, I'd forget it. And they would forget mine too.
Our talks are about anything except names. And when I get home and remember a conversation, I have no idea who said it.
Ironic, huh? That I can respect people yet do a seemingly disrespectful thing like not ask for their names? I believe it's true. Also, I believe their ideas have a better chance of staying with me because they're anonymous. I'm more open-minded because their ideas do not have an identity. This fascinates me.
Try to get to know someone on the inside without knowing their identity. It's a great experience.

Regards,
Irrelevant

The Irrelevant Blogger

This blog is written mostly tongue in cheek. It may contain something informative for the reader. Please provide feedback.
If you suffer from self-irrelevancy, please seek professional advice.

Hello. I've been blogging for a few months now. This is my second blog. I've been able to produce some content for 4 days a week on both blogs.
During that time, I've received only one "valid" comment (the rest were machine-generated).
Am I discouraged? Absolutely not. The main reasons I started these blogs are:

1. To educate myself on what blogging was all about
2. To organize my thoughts in written form
3. Self-therapy

Notice none of these things involve other people, only me. The fact they are on a forum anyone online can access is irrelevant.

In fact, I cannot tell you how surprised I was when I did get a reply. It was so gratifying. However, it was icing on the cake. My reasons have all been met or exceeded by doing these blogs. For that I'm very grateful.

Should you start a blog knowing you may not get a reply? If you have reasons like I do, then by all means do so!

Regards,

Irrelevant

The Irrelevant Customer II

This blog is written mostly tongue in cheek. It may be informative however. Please provide feedback.
If you suffer from self-irrelevancy, please seek professional advice.

Hello. Well, the phone company arrived at 1pm. If I would've been employed, it would've meant over half a day off. I would've taken the whole day off since I leave at 3pm to get my kids from school. Do they care if you take vacation time to wait for them? No way!
As an addition to yesterday's list, here are the Top 10 Things You Cannot Do When Waiting for The Phone Company:

1. Go to the washroom. You're sure to have them arrive then
2. Vacuum. They'd call during that time
3. Do chores in the back yard. Again, you would probably miss them
4. Phone someone else. They would call then
5. Walk the dog. Same as above
6. Play loud music
7. Sleep
8. Do a task requiring maximum concentration
9. Watch TV on a floor away from your front door
10. Cook

Regards,

Irrelevant

The Irrelevant Customer

This blog is written mostly tongue in cheek. Some of it may be informative however. Please provide your feedback.
If you suffer from self-irrelevancy, please seek professional advice.

Hello. Today I'm waiting for my phone to be fixed. I've been told a service person will be here in the narrow gap of 8am to 5pm Eastern.
What other company can do this kind of accurate prediction? Well, how about gas companies, and water tank companies. In other words, any company who provides a necessity that makes looking for alternatives difficult.
I'm glad I'm a member of the irrelevant unemployed on days like this. If I wasn't, I'd have to take a day off work to be available. I want to stay close to the front door in case they don't call first. Since my phone is not working properly, I may not get the call anyway.
To borrow from David Letterman, here are the Top 10 Things You Can Do While Waiting Near The Front Door For a Repairman:

1. Blog (if computer close by)
2. Read
3. Look out the window
4. Sudoku
5. Listen to radio or CDs
6. Solitaire
7. Eat
8. Semi-sleep
9. TV (if close by)
10. Wait for mailman

Regards,

Irrelevant

The Irrelevant Candidate

This blog is written mostly tongue in cheek. There may be something informative for you however. Please provide your feedback.
If you suffer from self-irrelevancy, please seek professional advice.

Hello. Well, my friend was not elected Monday. I was led to believe it was a 2-horse race, with my friend being one of the horses. However, my friend finished 4th, and the other "horse" finished 2nd out of 13 candidates. None of the 13 candidates was the incumbent, so it was a truly wide open ward.
My friend got over 1,000 votes, which I consider relevant. The question is, how low can a candidate's vote total be before a candidate can be considered irrelevant? As mentioned yesterday, a vote for someone is a vote against someone else. If a candidate gets even one vote, that voter is saying the candidate best represents what the voter wants to see in the next government. The candidate should get some deal of satisfaction from that result.
What if a candidate gets no votes? Is that candidate irrelevant? The person is never irrelevant, but the vision probably is this time. Again, maybe the vision is ahead of or behind its time. Many people thought the world was flat and the sun revolved around the earth 600 years ago. Of course, those "old" answers have been proven incorrect.
All candidates should be looking at their results today and analyzing them indepth, especially the runaway winners. Then the elected ones should find out how they can get "Hazel McCallion numbers", and the defeated candidates should see where to go from here. If the defeated candidates are like me, they have learned a lot so far, and now have a priceless batch of new stats to look over.
Congrats to all candidates who ran in this election! And all the best in finding the relevant answers you're looking for.

Regards,
Irrelevant

The Irrelevant Voter

This blog is written mostly tongue in cheek. There are some things which may be informative to you. Please provide your feedback.
If you are suffering from self-irrelevancy, please seek professional advice.

Hello. Today in the province of Ontario municipal politicians are being elected. These elections are supposedly the worst ones in the area of voter turnout. If 40% of eligible voters cast a vote, it will be seen as a great turnout, as compared with > 60% for provincial and federal elections.
Why are voter turnouts low? It's hard to say. Having spent a couple of days last week helping a friend knock on doors, it's almost mystifying. There's no way a provincial or federal candidate could cover their area the way a municipal candidate can. The municipal issues are also much more likely to affect people more than provincial and federal issues too, especially since municipal politicians seem to be the "catch all" people for things provincial and federal offices supposedly can no longer afford.
It's ironic this election occurs two days after Rememberance Day. We celebrated the sacrifice Canadian soldiers made so we'd have the ability to vote among other things. Now many of us are tossing that hard-fought right away.
Some may say there's no one to vote for. Unfortunately that statement may be true. If so, then run for that office next time.
Some others may say their vote is irrelevant. Believe me, my friend hopes everyone voted. And a vote for someone is a vote against someone else. It may be one of the few times you are relevant, because your vote counts the same as everyone else's vote.
If you didn't vote this time, then you are making yourself irrelevant. That is the worst thing of all. Please vote in the next election you're eligible for. And take steps to ensure you are eligible if there's a reason you currently aren't. Please make yourself relevant is this one case. Too many died to give you the opportunity. Please don't make their sacrifice irrelevant.

Regards,
Irrelevant

Irrelevant Job Part III

This blog is written mostly tongue in cheek. However some of it may be informative to you the reader. Please provide feedback.
If you suffer from self-irrelevancy, please seek professional advice.

Hello. Today I spent my fourth wonderful day of being with my 4 year old son, just the two of us, since I was laid off. All 4 days we've gone public skating. My son has really enjoyed it, which is great, because I've enjoyed it too. I'm glad he wants to go, because I don't want to force him.
We played games, read books, did puzzles, walked our dog and had a nice lunch together. It was a real treat. It amazed me how quickly the day went.
Yet when I've talked to anyone today either in person or on the phone, some sarcastic comment that usually starts "I know you're really busy now that you no longer have a job..." always comes up. The implication seems to be I have all kinds of time now, and that I should be looking for something to fill the gaps when I'm looking after my son.
Can there be anything worse than not giving your child your full attention when they are in your care? Not only at home, but when they're performing an activity? I see many parents who read a book or type away on a laptop when their children are swimming, dancing, performing karate, etc. Are their children thinking they're less relevant than a book or computer screen?
Maybe I now think I'm relevant even though no one else does because my parents paid attention to me during my childhood, and watched all my activities intently. It's an important point for parents to remember.
My goal in an otherwise irrelevant life is to make my kids believe they are relevant, no matter what others say.

Regards,
Irrelevant

Irrelevant Job Part II

This blog is written mostly tongue in cheek. However, some of it can be interpretted as informative by you, the reader. Please provide feedback.
If you are suffering from self-irrelevancy, please seek professional advice.

Hello again. Do you realize how nice it is to no longer be a member of a desirable advertising demographic? In a word, great. Here's why:
I'm usually pretty patient with telemarketers. After all, they, like me, have been rejected more often than five-month old milk. They're just doing a job, for low wages. So even if it's the 10th call in a week for new windows and doors, I'll tell them I just got some last year, rather than say get lost.
Well, I have yet to meet a telemarketer who knows what to say when I mention unemployment. They literally think they're talking to a dead man. Usually some degree of sympathy is followed by a click. It's wonderful!
It is amazing how much advertising impacts us daily. You don't realize it when you are targetted. As soon as you're no longer a target, you can't imagine how much time it adds to a day.
With municipal elections this coming Monday, I'm waiting to see if a candidate comes knocking. I've unfortunately been away when they've come so far. If they do come again, I'm going to ask what they're doing about the unemployed. My prediction is they'll forget I can still vote. Stay tuned.

Regards,
Irrelevant

The Irrelevant Job

This blog is written mostly tongue in cheek. However, some things are said seriously that hopefully help you, the reader. Please provide your comments.
If you are experiencing self-irrelevancy, please seek professional advice.

Hello again. I'm currently unemployed. After 32 years of working and/or being in school, I'm now on my own. As far as society is concerned, I'm no longer a productive member. I'm a "domestic engineer" as it used to be called.
This job is irrelevant to society. First of all, it doesn't pay. Secondly, even if you're looking after your own children, which I am, many people I've encountered wonder why I'm not out there pounding the pavement instead of looking after a house and child. After all, aren't there others who could be looking after my kids?
So why am I no longer contributing to social programs? I currently am, because I received a severance package. However, I'm hoping I won't have to have a job in the traditional sense in the future. While I'm not looking to retire completely now, I certainly want to avoid the rat race if at all possible.
Is this sacreligious? Maybe, but the new generation graduating from school now does not think a 30-year career at one company is the way to go either.
In the meantime, I'm relishing no longer being a work statistic. I'm not in any company's ideal demographic. I am truly irrelevant in this area.

Regards,
Irrelevant

Irrelevant Blog

Hello. I am Irrelevant, so my identity is meaningless.
This blog will be written mostly tongue-in-cheek. However, some of it will hopefully have some relevancy to you, the reader. Please let me know what you'd like to see added/changed or deleted.
I'm dedicating this blog to a friend I met on Saturday. When we started discussing the idea of irrelevancy, this friend suggested I create this blog. Thank you for your encouragement.
Right now I'm at a point in my life where I consider myself relevant. However, I think I'm the only one who does consider me relevant. For the rest of the human population (and probably other populations, such as mammals), I am Irrelevant.
While people may be uncomfortable being in my situation, I personally think it's the ultimate place to be. I have found great joy in this situation.
I'll go out on a limb by saying it's better to be in my situation that the opposite one, which is everyone else thinking you're relevant, but you thinking you're irrelevant. The following deceased celebrities come to mind - Jimi Hendrix, Chris Farley, John Belishi, Janis Joplin, Elvis Presley.
If you have feelings of self-irrelevancy, please seek professional advice.
If you want to know why I feel joy at others perceiving me as irrelevant, please continue to come back for my reasons why.

Regards,
Irrelevant