Category: Personal

About me.

Time is Non-Refundable

It’s the end of the day and I find myself struggling with some vague feelings of sadness and loss. I had a quiet, focused day at work, writing software, while listening to my “Moody Moments” playlist. I love that playlist,…

Remembrance Day 2022

This Remembrance Day I watched the HBO documentary The Cold Blue, about the what it was like to fly B-17 bomber missions across the English Channel during World War II. It uses real colourized footage throughout with commentary from actual…

One Is All You Get

My uncle Guenter died recently; my dad’s only sibling. He’s been in Guatemala for probably the last 30 years and I haven’t seen him once in all that time. While I only saw him occasionally back in my teens and…

Why Community Matters

The other day I was bemoaning the erosion of community in our everyday lives and placing the blame squarely on automation. Automation and the never-ending race to achieve greater efficiency seeks to remove people from as many equations as possible.…

What is a Real Friend?

It’s taken me a long time to understand this, but I think I finally do.  I used to think that a real friend is someone you simply get along with.  I used to think that a real friend is someone…

Eulogy for Ivan Szlapetis

It’s June 9th, and as I write this I sit in a spot on a bluff overlooking the Red Deer river in Drumheller, Alberta, about 150km northeast of Calgary.  There’s a suspension footbridge down below that you have to cross…

Dear Telus

Dear Telus, Next year, when you drop off the phone book, please just circle around behind my house and deposit it into the handy blue recycling bin located there.  Or, if you truly want to be a friend to the…

I Don’t Want. I Want Out.

I don’t want what this society has to offer. I don’t want money.  I don’t want prestige.  I don’t want a fancy car, nice clothes, or a big beautiful house.  I don’t want any of it.  As far as I’m…

Construction Eye Opener

[This is something I wrote a long time ago and never posted, because I didn’t feel it was polished enough or quite finished.  I’m not in the reno business anymore, but… what the hell, I’m posting it as is anyway.…