All good things come to an end

• First, you can hear my conversation with Mayor Darrin Canniff of the Municipality of Chatham-Kent or where ever you get your podcasts. This weeks episode will be a Season 2 wrap up that looks ahead to Season three and talks about the Patreon content you can expect over the summer.
• It has been 67 weeks since lockdown began, and I decided to write some weekly insights on the pandemic for 66 of 67 weeks. I never envisioned this series going this long (or the pandemic for that matter).
  • For those that didn’t see I received my second dose of vaccine on Friday. As we are on track to being “back to normal” sooner rather than later, now feels like a good time to stop the weekly posts.
  • These posts although bullet pointed do take a fair bit of time and energy to compile. When transferred over to a word file since March of 2020 (not including this post) I have written:

• Although I enjoy it in many ways the several hours per week to pull them together take their toll.
• To a degree I am burnt out and frankly given my cynicism (and reviewing the analytics) the loyal group of readers that I have cultivated I question the impact of some of these posts. Yelling into the internet void isn’t my goal.
  • When I look at the most popular posts over the past year and a half – excluding the home page and table of content pages they were:
    • The Windsor Work Post – Which broke down the issues and opportunities within the report.
    • Post on Indigenous Population Data in Essex County– Which has recently seen some additional traffic for reasons I think we can understand.
    • Adie Knox Post – A recent hit…
    • Week 23 – August 23, 2020 – A post in which I questioned the motives of a Diversity and Inclusion Taskforce that met with the Minister and did a media release. Almost 10 months later no tangible action has occurred in the public realm that I am aware of.
    • Week 33 – November 1, 2020 – US Election and a ranting post but also the Mayor’s notice of motion of hospital endorsement, the local sprawl debates, and the progressive echo chamber – this post made some people mad.
    • My New Years – Few Thoughts on 2021 – 10 things I was watching in 2021
    • Week 16 – July 5, 2020 This post covers the City of Windsor COVID mitigation measures as well as me addressing feedback on the Indigenous Population post outlined above.
    • Post on Racial Data in Essex County – June 16 2020 – Part 1 of a two part post breaking down racial data in our region
    • Week 17 – July 12, 2020 – A random post that saw the return of FarSide comics much to my joy! The end of the 3rd shift at FCA and overgrown tomato plants from my garden
    • Week 19 – July 26 2020 – This was not themed post I have no idea why this post was so popular. A few items on remote work, a ping to a local podcast with a school board trustee and me ponding what to paint my staircase (update: staircase still not painted)
  • Honestly some of the posts that I worked hardest on didn’t make the top 10 – although the Windsor Work and Adie Knox were longer reads and heavier lifts. Multiple school board posts that dug deep into City altering decisions around school placements, City budget posts, the second part of the Racial inequality post is about half as popular as the first post, yet it actually has what I consider more damning data within it.
• The other reason for now being a good time to end the weekly posts is for a big change in my professional life. June 30th will be my last day as full time staff at United Way/Centraide Windsor-Essex County.
  • I had an amazing 6.5 years – got to work with some amazing people, raised some important issues in our community and move the needle on certain issues in the community. I contributed to a potentially transformation process – ProsperUs.
  • I am moving on to things that I think are exciting. I am fortunate to be in a place in this community where I can make this decision as my employment wasn’t disrupted during the pandemic. As we seem to beating this wave of the Pandemic, now seemed to be a good time to move on.
• So this “Few Thoughts” series is coming to an end, the blog is not but the weekly cadence is going to stop for the time being. Long posts will still emerge from time to time and nothing that I have posted will be deleted.
  • I am focusing on some other projects that I am sure will find their way to this blog or other media platforms.
• Should anyone want to meet and share a few thoughts in person, I am happy to meet on a patio and chat.