Hello Everyone I heard a story once from the First World War, where a small German village held a funeral march for its church bell. It was late in the war and Germany was desperate. Every last scrap and resource was being poured into the war effort. This beautiful old bell, that had marked the pace of life in this village for generations, was to be melted down and turned into bullets. On the scale of horror in the Great War, this doesn’t even rank. But still, the story has s

Hello Everyone, “Don’t worry, planes are quite safe.” I didn’t come up with this line, but I love it: Rational thinking won’t stop irrational fears. Telling someone who has a fear of flying that “actually, planes are quite safe”, is a terrible way to make them feel better. Unless the person you are talking to is an aerospace engineer, most people lack the technical knowledge to evaluate that kind of information. No matter how well intentioned, it’s a dumb approach because the

Hello Everyone, I’ve often heard that tree planting is a rite of passage in Canada. When I was in high school and university it was talked about as an option for a summer job. Specifically, it was talked about by the cool, adventurous people, instead of the usual retail or farm work options that were common in my area. But I never did it, and of the regrets I have, it ranks surprisingly high. It’s not so much that I missed out on something that in retrospect looks pretty fun

Hello Everyone, The fear of missing out has stalked me for a long time. When I was about 10 years old, I remember complaining to my mom that we never did anything fun. For instance, we never went to the beach. Wanting to provide a happy childhood, a little while later my mom took my siblings and I to Crysler Beach, on the beautiful shores of the St. Lawrence River. It was okay, but kinda rocky and not at all as much fun as Archie and the gang seemed to be having in all the co

Hello Everyone, When I first found out I was to become a dad, I counted the days until the 26th week of pregnancy. My understanding was...

Heading home today. - Went to a fun bar last night. The High and Lonesome Club, which advertises itself as Winnipeg's premier honky tonk....

Hello Everyone, There's  a joke that the test for whether you have ADHD is whether you can get organized enough to book a test for ADHD....

Day 4 It was a slow day yesterday, so here are some more mostly random thoughts: - Manitoba has it going on when it comes to license...

Hello Everyone, Some random observations: - No one in Winnipeg wears a bike helmet. This is jarring as I come from rules loving Ottawa...

Hello Everyone, There's a great saying about wars that amateurs think about tactics, professionals think about logistics. I'm not in a...