Quick Accolades

• 2021 Mar 19: I just got my AstoZeneca shot. Alberta Health Services' vaccine centres are very efficient. Well done!
• 2020 Mar 26: I think we've had very good communication from our local government officials, and the feds. Trudeau has done a good job - having daily updates. Alberta's chief medical officer of health, Dr. Deena Hinshaw, is a superstar.
• Hey! A while ago I got a quick fix for my mustang's door. The body shop mechanic just fixed it while we were in the parking lot. No charge. Big shout out to Darren from Capri Motorsports Body Shop!
• I'm in a band where almost everyone is a better musician than I am, but, they still let me call the shots. Trocmeisters, you are very cool people.
• Wow. Orphan Black. What a TV series. Canadian, even.
• TSN and Sportsnet have half-hour highlight shows. Awesome. The highlights even make SOCCER look good. (Ie, 12 seconds of highlights in a soccer boring snooze-fest that lasts 60 minutes)
• A limbo dancer walks into a bar ... Badoom Tisch!
• Star Wars Rebels might just seem like a cartoon on the Disney Channel, but the stories are terrific. This, along with Star Wars - The Clone Wars are perfect glue between Episode III and Episode IV. Bonus: No Jar Jar.
• Lillian Osborne High School: You are way up there in the AOK stratosphere. Very respectful, and inclusive of all. Every time I have the privilege of visiting you, I get more impressed. Thanks for being awesome teenagers.
• I like TV.
• Watching my daughter sing in a choir makes me teary with pride.
• Watching my son do small things for his girlfriend shows that chivalry is not dead. Class act.
• I like my car. It's fun. It's falling apart, but it's still fun. 1994 Mustang. It's now > 21 years old, and it's got . . . err . . . 'quirks'. BUT, I still like it. That is all.
• I'm still a computer geek. And, every morning, I get a e-newsletter delivered to me (CodeProject). Although there is a lot of crap to wade through, there's also a lot of good stuff. For instance:
  • A very short, but well presented explanation of 64-bit computing: Intel
  • Everyone's got a philsophy on how-to-program. This one is well written: Sam Schillace
• 2013 Sep 7: Thanks to all the Canadians who give blood. My Dad's used a lot of it.
• I had a fun day this week: Car dies on the way to UAH, I nurse it to the Foote Field parking lot, I walk the the LRT station, and I plug all the money I've got with me into the ticket machine... Arrggh, moan. A kind Samaritan senses my defeat, and wrestles through her purse to find the 25 cents I'm short. She was very kind and understanding. I like nice ladies.
• On the week of Aug 12, I worked my butt off at my dad's, dealing with 2 truckloads of soil and three palettes of sod. It was very hot. On the day the dirt was delivered, I spent about 6 litres of sweat trying to distribute/level the dirt.

  Contracted workers fixing the road in front of the house took pity on me, and used a cat tractor mini loader to level all the soil. Fifteen minutes of their time saved me about 16 hours. I tried to pay them for their trouble, and they wouldn't think of it.

  I owe someone a big 'pay-it-forward' thanks to those fellows.

• The guys who pick up the garbage in my neighbourhood are darn awesome. Fast, thorough, and they take everything you set out. And they do it with a smile on their face.
• I've got a neighbour who gets home mid-day from work, gets his snow plow out, and plows many of his neighbours' sidewalks and driveways. Thanks, Bob!
• On about Aug 11, I was in the Safeway, getting a few things. I walked around a corner with my cart, and almost nailed a guy. I immediately stop, and exclaim, "Crap, I'm sorry!". He resonded back, "hey, it wasn't your fault, and stop being so ... Canadian! Why do we apologize so much?!" I solemnly retorted: "Yeah, I'm sorry about that, too". He had a good giggle, then we went on our way.

  I like people with my sense of humour.

• I like cats. And blue jays (aka "Jay Jay"). And wild hares (aka "Bun Bun").
• Thumbs up to WESTWORLD Computers on 170th Ave. Their tech repair guys have heart.
• Parisians (aka people in Paris) are very friendly and helpful. More than once on our recent vacation, we were approached by locals who were eager to give us directions to places like the Notre Dame Cathedral -- even when were weren't even looking lost or for help; for example, we just took a small pause on crowded street while we got our bearings, and next thing we know, a nice French lady was doing her best to explain to us (in English) where the cathedral was. This helpfulness happened several times over our three days in Paris.
• I love my kids. And I'm proud of how strong and competent they have become in their careers. They are at the top of their food chains, doing a job well and with passion (which is often accompanied by a truckload of stress). They sometimes vent their frustrations with me; when they do, I get validation of the journey I took in my career -- they are both smarter than me, and they both are finding the same career-based 'land mines' that I had to navigate. They don't want or need my advice (I give it to them anyway).

  Don't worry kids ... it will all work out. I trust you. You are the best adults I know.