... try and find us

What a marvellous message. Once your kids become teenagers, chances are you are not going to kill them with negligence (i.e. they are smart enough to make their own ay home from school). You can stop scaring them with cautionary tales and let them read this. … and when they finish Grade 12, encourage them to TRAVEL (not just vacation), and (if you can) offer to buy them a plane ticket in any direction. Thanks for the link, Dean Stanton .

This will be me next week.

OHMYGOD!I'MDYIN- oh, wait … we had beets for dinner last night.  Nevermind.

As a young child, Hallowe'en was the highlight of my autumn.  The whole of October was spent anticipating an evening spent with friends, loose on the streets of Sherwood Park, masked to prevent recognition and armed with boundless energy and an empty pillow case for candy.  The costume was usually determined early. For me, scary was a fallback for inspiration.  I tended to lean towards emulating my heroes - "army" guys, Superman, Spiderman or other comic book characters.  The week prior to the eve was the time to make alliances for trick-or-treat buddies.  You chose someone who lived close-by, so you could quickly race over to their house after supper (clearing of the dinner dishes being the the unofficial starting gun of the candy fest) and the two, three or four of you would then plan the route, maximizing visits to areas that would yield "good candy." In the 'seventies, Hallowe'en candy tended to be something that today's kids wouldn't even ...

Today suddenly became notable in my life. Sunnyside Greenhouse is recognizing today as Early Seniors Day. Anyone 55 or over gets a 10% discount. Guess who just go t asked if he qualified? I must look much worse than I feel. ..... Wait until it happens to you for the first time.

Kate and I are gently swaying side-to-side at 140+ km/hour along the rail lines between Ottawa and Quebec, having come to La Belle Provence to visit our darling daughter.  Brianna is nowhere in sight, though.  There's a method to our madness. I have held fast to the belief that houseguests are much like unrefrigerated fish, in that you wouldn't want either sitting around for more than three or four days.  For that reason, when planning to visit Brianna in Montreal this fall, we decided to incorporate other destinations and use Brianna (and Heather)'s place as a base.  Quebec City and Ottawa, both just a few hours away, would be where we ventured to during the weekdays.  The weekends would provide some time catching up with Brianna and getting to know Heather better.  Quebec was wonderful for a few reasons: first, we stayed at the Chateau de Frontenac .  The Frontenac is considered the castle of the town, perched on a high bluff overlooking Old Queb...

This year's birthday thesis is that life still seems to be getting better. I make an effort to take a look forward and back on my birthday and evaluate how I am doing in life.  It helps me justify breathing air, eating food and taking up space and resources on our little planet.  by "how I'm doing,"  I mean the amount of suffering I'm reducing. Personally, I'm not suffering very much.  Most parts of my life (emotionally, relationally, financially, intellectually) are advancing, and measuring progress against yourself is the best thing for me.  My business is is doing well and I am doing well at my business.  At work I am doing what I need to and occasionally making mistakes, but I work hard to correct those mistakes and ensure that the same mistakes aren't made again.  I feel like I have a plan that I am working towards, and that plan is yielding the results I want it to reveal.  That, in itself, makes for a very satisfying life.  I am fe...

I love what I do, but today isn't a fun day.  Internet providers make mistakes that get blamed on poor communication.  Microsoft makes software that doesn't live up to its promises.  The end result is that I start a process on a Sunday morning to fix a problem (thinking it should take one, maybe two hours to resolve) and end up working until long after all the city's bartenders have gone to bed, then get back up to beat the first early riser into the office to continue working on the problem. It's a challenge, and it feels good when I have it under control, but I don't enjoy learning the intricacies of my trade while a business owner is watching over my shoulder, tapping his foot. I'm pining for the open fields (ok, actually at this exact moment, I'm pining for bed) when I am not working at all. -------------- I've had some easement of the my nose from the grindstone when I left Veer, as I was quite exhausted.  The pressure of bills to pay, mou...

At 46 years old, it seems silly to be considering old age. But, subtle hints of my impending frailty constantly poke their heads around corners in my day-to-day existence. eyesight - at Kate's insistence, I have taken advantage of the optometrist benefit offered by her company's health coverage and went for an eye-exam. Although I still have 20/20 vision, I admitted to my optometrist that after 8 - 10 hours of sitting in front of a computer, my eyes do get tired and I focus on the screen only with some effort. She recommended a set of ultra-low prescription "working and reading" glasses that now sit on my nightstand. recovery time - I am used to exercising hard, falling into bed exhausted, then bouncing back to fully-charged energy levels first thing the next day. I am finding I don't make it back to 100% the next day after a particularly hard day of skiing/climbing/running/cycling. body aches - I find my back is a little stiffer than it has been, and I need t...

Part of what I do as work involves an opportunity to give back to society. I call it my "Ability To Pay" Rate Scale. Companies get charged the full, going rate. Likewise with people that live in starter castles in Springbank . Home trouble calls get a slightly gentler tally of the bill, based on the perceived expense of the neighborhood and furniture, and if I'm offered a beverage while I'm working. Non-profits get charged a much-under-market rate. Seniors (such as my beloved Nazi-transvestite-senior citizen, Walter) get charged a dignity-saving nominal fee, like $20 and a little, individually-wrapped chocolate from the bowl on the coffee table. Family and friends are encouraged to think kind thoughts or write me more substantially into their will. Then, every once in a while, I make an exception to The Scale. On Wednesday, I received a call from gravelly, sounded-like-he'd-smoked-too-much-in-his-life Dave, who claimed he couldn't ...

The Mindset List was created at Beloit College in 1998 to reflect the world view of entering first year students. The list gets updated every year. This is the reality of first year students entering University in the fall of 2011. "What Berlin wall?" Humvees, minus the artillery, have always been available to the public. They never “rolled down” a car window. They have grown up with bottled water. General Motors has always been working on an electric car.Nelson Mandela has always been free and a force in South Africa. Rap music has always been mainstream. “Off the hook” has never had anything to do with a telephone. Russia has always had a multi-party political system. Women have always been police chiefs in major cities. They were born before Bart Simpson existed. No one has ever been able to sit down comfortably to a meal of “liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti.” Being “lame” has to do with being dumb or inarticulate, not disabled. Multigrain chips have alway...

Last October, we found out that our cat's kidneys had failed. We were told by the vet that she wouldn't get better from this, but with medication, she would be more comfortable and live another 6 months to maybe two years. About three to four weeks ago, she stopped eating pretty much anything, which meant that she didn't get half of the medicine that we mixed into her food. We watched her lose about 30% of her body weight and get more and more listless. She was sleeping more, becoming dehydrated (no matter how much water she drank) and was losing hair. Last week, another trip to the vet confirmed what we thought - she had reached the end of her time and her body was shutting down. This morning, I noticed that she couldn't even make it downstairs to the litter box (stumbling when she tried to decend the 3 steps to a landing).   It was time. I took her into the vet this morning and she travelled quietly, even when we got into the exam room. She was ready to go. Wh...

This Saturday, I'm doing something hard.   I'm gonna ride up a mountain, over and over, in the mud and sometimes the dark, over stumps and roots and rocks and logs, through trees and across streams, with bear warnings clearly posted at the entrance to the area where the race is taking place. I'm going to sweat, and swear, and grind, and groan, and chug uphill until my calves and quads scream. I'll likely wipe out, over and over, bruising and scraping and possibly cutting up legs and arms. It's a world-class, 24-hour-long event with over 10,000 competitors (87% of which are testosterone-charged young men).  There are five of us on our team, taking turns riding, getting almost enough sleep, pushing through fatigue to do our best, and the one thing that is inspiring us to give it our all - our reason for this sacrifice is summed up in our team moniker.  The Five Cupcakes .

The Cosmos must have a more-important-than-usual message for me right now. This past week has seen me meeting three very unique characters. First, I met a 91 year old man who, within 15 minutes of meeting me, revealed that: he had been raised in an orphanage for the first five years of his life he had been a soldier in WWII as a Nazi under Hitler he was now a proud Canadian he has donated blood over 50 times he is a practicing cross-dresser and transvestite has a book about his life written by a Calgary ghost writer. He turned out to be one of the most interesting, lively, young-beyond-his-years and genuinely happy people I have met in a long time. Secondly, I met a woman in her late forties/early fifties of great material wealth, but who was living in such paranoia and exuding anxiety to such a degree that everyone around her (including several house staff that she has at her beck and call for much of the day) was living in a state of fear. Lastly, this evening, I spent some on...

I had the greatest time this weekend, hanging out with my mom's family and Banana. We went to Langley, BC, for semi-decadal (that's every fifth year) Key Family picnic . Five years is enough time for family members to change and gather some stories to keep you entertained. I had found I had graduated from 'active parenting' (cutting meat, slathering my child with sunscreen, keeping her entertained/out of harm's way) to the Elders' Circle that sips the beverage of their choice, feet in the kiddie pool and watches with bemusement as the Active Parents do their thing. I was also very proud of my daughter as she mingled with her kin, finding them all to be funny, witty and entertaining (which they are, in their own ways). I was happy to spend some time with my cousin and her new baby. I am fully aware of how much energy it takes to be the parent of a toddler and am soooo glad that it is her and Tom that are starting on that journey and not me. I'm watc...

Kate's mum (really, that's how she spells it) is on her way from Australia for a visit. Problem is, she landed in Vancouver five days ago where she met up with MY mom and is having a marvelous time, touring Vancouver Island. The two of them (three, actually - our thirteen-year-old niece is along with Nonna for the ride) are staying Bed and Breakfasts, visiting Saltspring Island, shopping, sightseeing and meeting all my relatives. Kate and I are both happy that our mothers are getting along, but ... doesn't Nancy miss and want to see US ?????

We've decided to take in a stray. The lovely Autumn, a friend of Banana's, is coming to live with us. She and Banana have been pals for the past few years and have great plans of eventually exploring the big, bad world together. Circumstances have arisen that have lead to smaller steps towards their eventual independence. Autumn's parents (dad and step-mom) had been making plans to live and work around the world as soon as Autumn finished school. Autumn's dad (being a Sommelier ) has landed a job in the wine-making region of BC, starting pretty much now. His wife (as is custom) is tagging along for the season, and they both have plans to scoot to more interesting parts of the world (namely China) when the weather in the Okanagan cools down. Autumn wasn't ready to pack up and leave Calgary just yet, with a bosom buddy and a boyfriend in town. When word of her wanting to stay first emerged last fall, we offered up some space in our house. As the time got c...

Although we bought this house with the intention of not doing any renovation projects, a few small ones have popped up. The most recent one is a refit of Kate's closet. After an abortive attempt to recess a set of drawers into the back of what looked like a false back ("Oh, hello structural roof support beam. I guess I shouldn't take the Sawz-all to you."), we had to re-drywall and revise our plan. And by "we" Of course I mean the royal We . Now I'm looking at a day and a half's work, *if* I don't run into any more surprises and if my luck that is masquerading as skill holds out. Whenever I start renovations, I always feel like a cork inspector at a leaky dyke.

When I first heard of the upcoming family reunion in Langley this July, I quickly dismissed it as an event too inconvenient to attend. We are going to have houseguests during the weekend it is scheduled, it would be a lot of miles to put on the van and I can't just pick up and leave for the four days (two bouts of day-and-a-half drives) that would be required. That was my rationale. Lately, I've had little tugs at my heartstrings. I have a new second cousin who has turned a year old and I have not yet looked at him in person. I'm seeing e-mails from aunts and second cousins that I haven't seen for what seems like ages. I have an overwhelming urge to play cribbage (OK, I'm just making that one up). Anyways, I've decided to fly out, despite the houseguests. Kate is staying put, out of politeness, but I'm going. And in a last-minute decision, Brianna is coming with me. Isn't that nice?

Once again, I've decided to take on the role of President of the condo board where my parents live. Last year was my first try at this impressive-sounding (but thankless) position. Our condo board (as it exists) is what is called "self-managed." This means it has farmed out the tasks of bookkeeping, groundskeeping, errand-running and common area cleaning to different parties (all of whom need to be poked and prodded to keep in motion), with the frustrating tasks of condo fee processing left to whomever is on the board. When I signed up last year, I was keen to learn all about 'managing' a condo, and what an experience it has been. Two other condo owners volunteered to be on the board (with me as president), then promptly disappeared when it was time to do any work. These two both moved out of town and rented out their units, leaving me to deal with little problems like: water pipes leaking between two condos and causing water damage that has to be fixed. ...

Looks like I'll have some company at Wasa Lake Triathlon this year. My lovely wife and three of her craziest friends have signed up to do the sprint distance with me. After all, how hard could it be? (har har har)

... that has us on it will be in December. We're going for Christmas and New Years. That means that we'll be in Canada for summer for a change. Whoo hoo!

I'm trying to instill in Banana the importance of "Thank You" wishes. Although, ideally, we give gifts without expectations, the truth is we all want to have a little feedback on the effort made. Banana just had her 18th birthday, which included some big efforts and nice gestures from those who love her. A smattering of gifts was also included - some from her new Aussie relatives that are far away and have no idea how she received her gifts. I've been after her for a week now to acknowledge those gifts. Thank you cards have been put in front of her, along with stamps and addresses, but to no avail. I'm quite disappointed in her.

For the past month-and-a-bit, I have been showing some of my new in-laws all that Calgary and the mountains has to offer. I think I've been having as much fun as they have. Some of the highlights have been: floating down the Elbow river, enjoying the gentle current and child-friendly depth an adults-only hike up Ha Ling Peak trips to Calgary landmarks such as Peter's Drive Inn , Recordland , our lovely neighborhood of Kensington , Prince's Island and the bike paths the Barrier Lake Fire Lookout hike (which the kids walked themselves - all 12 kilometers of) the Little Elbow loop (a true back-country mountain bike ride) Canada Olympic Park for a zipline ride curling at the Winter Club a 5 km Fun Run at Bowness Park a speedy trip to Frank, Waterton Park and down into The 'States to do the Going to the Sun Road In the past, having Aussies around has usually meant that I've had to defend much of what Canada encompasses - Tim Horton's coffee, waiting patiently i...