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| Owl Burl - Allan Gardens |
A Nest of Economists
On Monday and Tuesday this week past I was hanging out at the University of Ottawa at a conference.
I spent Monday sitting next to a friend's favourite professor from back in the day almost twenty years ago when my friend was getting her degree at the University of Alberta.
Small world.
The favourite professor was an economist, as were most of the 120 people in the room. They were all talking about climate change and how to save the world, preserve our economy, achieve social justice, restore natural ecosystems and, oh, I don't know, fly to Venus if only we could get the price of everything right.
It was fun to talk about these things. I didn't have to pay to attend this conference (my ministry was a sponsor) but I would definitely pay hard cash out of my own pocket to go to a conference where people set about to not just talk about but to do these things.
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Sparky's Funtime Summertime Murder Mystery
Chapter One
My name's Rachel, but everyone calls me Sparky. It's a family thing that spread to my circle of friends and just kept going. When I was a little kid so the family legend goes I used to squeal with glee whenever Mom fired up the backyard grill and spun the knob that made the spark that lit the gas. So Sparky I became and Sparky I'll remain to my dying day I suppose.
I want to tell you about what I know about the death of Gerry Ringbold, that city council guy whose corpse they found in the Thompson Gardens last summer. It's all a big mystery what happened to him but I think I've got it figured out.
Just so you'll believe what I'm saying, there are some things about me you need to know. I've already got a degree in journalism and I'm going to get a law degree. My plan for my life is to be a reporter who specializes in big legal cases. I got research skills.
Right now I also have lots of time on my hands and access to wifi. It's my job to work the midnight to 8 a.m. shift at the Thompson Garden public washroom, generously funded through the Peony MacDonald Chester Foundation for the Public Enjoyment of the Thompson Gardens. This is my second summer at this job. That's a long story how I got here and I may tell you, but that's not my point.
I will tell you what everyone knows about the death of Gerry Ringbold. They found him in the shed where they store the cute little electric cart with the balloon tires that the gardeners use to tool around in. The cart was gone and has never been found. Gerry was laid out on the concrete floor, dead as a 27-year-old rock star, and covered in huge blistered burns on every part of his exposed skin. The autopsy said a heart attack and no one could say whether the burns were a cause of or contributed to his death.
They found Gerry on the morning of June 22, 2013, and while police say that the circumstances are suspicious, and the case is still open, no one really knows what happened.
Except me.
Read Chapter Two Here. **************************************************************
Thanks for reading!
Have a great week!
Karen
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