Ideeahs

Every December 31 or January 1 I remember a Garfield cartoon strip. The fat cat opens an eye while still lying comfortably in his bed. He reaches out to feel the air surrounding him between his thumb, index and middle fingers and utters......."Feels the same." Thanks to everyone for having read my Ideeahs in 2009. All the best. May 2010 be completely different, exciting and bring adventure to all of us. Let me know what you think about what you have just read. Please and thanks!

We in the rich worlds have everything we need. We may not have what we want....but we have what we need. Of course we know this, yet we often forget it and become fooled into thinking that our wants are actually needs. In the book I am currently reading, All Marketers are Liars (Tell Stories), Seth Godin makes this point and states that the job of marketers has gotten much more complicated as all our needs have been filled. The trick is to somehow turn this want into a need. Not easy as most consumers are not even listening to the marketers' stories (lies) anymore! Today we went to Costco to stock on some food (a need). I left there a little disturbed by the scene, by my own purchases and actions. Why? We got to the store at 10:00 - opening hour. Already the place was packed. The crowds filled the side aisles and we all had difficulty navigating our SUV sized carts around each other. Seriously, it was insanity. I have often found Costco to be a particularly draining plac

I need to blow off some steam.... "Unprecedented", "an important breakthrough", "a start", "we can call Copenhagen a success" Only in politics can a twelve day meeting produce so little. Our power hungry, protectionist, narrow-minded, lobby-swayed, short-term thinking, elected (though often not) officials have once again excelled at doing so very little and, in their constant fear of annoying some powerful groups, have managed to annoy mostly everyone no matter what their shade of green. No vision, no clarity, no outside the box thinking. Only in politics can an agreement that has no measurable items, tangible results, numerics or timelines with commitments be considered a success. Only in politics can vagueness in time, in dollars, in quality be considered an important breakthrough. Sadly this is NOT unprecedented. At least Kyoto, in its failure, had a number associated with it! Now we have zippo. Let me know what you think about what you h

My last entry was about the amount of water we consume. The water tax bill that spurred that particular entry had another interesting piece of information which I feel a need to talk about. I found out that the town of Beaconsfield charges its residents $1 per 1000 litres of water consumption. I don't know about you but I find this absurd. In comparison I pay about $1 a litre for gasoline. I pay about $2.20 a litre for organic milk. Bottled water sets me back about $2.00 (and that is for a 500 ml bottle). Compare all of that to one tenth of a penny per litre ($0.001). I also doubt that it costs the city only $1 to deliver 1000 litres to me. Clearly the incentive for people in Beaconsfield to consume less water is not going to come from a financial impact. The town will have to rely on some enlightened and aware citizens that look at their consumption in thousands of litres and, like me, decide that they want to try and make a dent. If Beaconsfield does indeed want to make a

The house that we moved into this autumn has a water metre installed. A few weeks back we received the water tax bill for the previous year. It showed that the previous owners had consumed 406 cubic metres of water over a 403 day period of time. So slightly more than 1 cubic metre a day. Not being able to relate to cubic metres as a unit of measure I converted this to litres. I was flabbergasted to see that this converted to 406,000 litres - 1007 litres of water per day! I couldn't believe it. My gosh. The nice thing about a metre is that it puts a value in your face. It tells you, directly and immediately, how much water you are using and how much it is costing you. In the 64 days since the last reading the metre has registered another 40 cubic metres of water consumption - 625 litres a day. The good news is that this is considerably lower but says little for sake of comparison yet. The last 64 days have not included any lawn watering. We did change a defective flappe

This came to me this evening, listening to Full of Grace by Sarah McLachlan. A memory of my seventeen years in that most beautiful, natural, powerful of places - Vancouver, the south coast of British Columbia, the Gulf Islands, Vancouver Island. Forever in me because of moments like the one I describe below. A cool December evening. The sun has already been shining on the other side of the planet for five hours. The temperature has dropped to a few degrees above zero. It is overcast, the clouds are low. The mist, the forming fog still a few hundred metres off the surface. It is dark. The fine drizzle hits my windblown face. It feels even colder, here, standing at the bow of the Spirit of British Columbia. My MEC jacket's hood is tightly wrapped around my cheeks and brow. My glasses are speckled with droplets. For the most part I am alone. A few passengers walk by not wanting to stand in the weather. I have decided to spend my time here....alone. I close my eyes and ta

I was thinking about my career this evening. For most of my twenty-one years there my upper management team was able to keep me motivated. They had the tools at their disposal and the ability to use them. For my hard work I was well rewarded with faster than average salary increases, awards, invitations to conferences, stock options, promotions. I was moved to Toronto and back to Vancouver, I was trained. All of this made me want to bust my ass and I believed in the company. I did well, I was respected and therefore I was happy. Then it all changed. The tools were still there, described in the various HR manuals, but my upper management team could no longer use them. All that was left to motivate me were kind words. I knew that there was nothing more that they could do, as my own hands were tied with my employees, but it began to eat away at me. Why should I bust my ass and not be rewarded? How much can one look within for motivation? Let's be frank....most of us do not

Those neutral, peaceful, boring, cow-herding, chocolate-loving, clock-making Swiss have annoyed the majority of the world. Of course, you could argue that the Swiss are free to do whatever the heck they want within their country....fair enough. But I disagree....not in this interconnected, global world. If you go back to the days of nation states and empires, where heinous behaviour was deemed a part of the world we lived in, maybe...but not today. Minarets, in the minds of those chocolate eating bankers, are sure signs of the radical Islam and the dangers that go along with it. Those towers, which rise above mosques, are meant to show followers where the mosques are and used for the calls to prayer. Hmmm.....this vaguely sounds familiar. Catholic churches generally were the tallest building in the cities they were built in so that followers could easily identify the building and so that those bells could ring and be heard...to announce a call to prayer! Nothing evil about that.

The Past The Present The Future As long as your life lived. The day, the hour, the minute, the second, the millisecond, the nanosecond, the picosecond. The yet to come. When does the past begin and the future end? When does the present become the past? When does the future become the present? This hour? This minute? This picosecond? How to concentrate on ceaseless present moments when they are but a fleeting moment - gone in a picosecond and forever banished to the annals of the past? Does the present have a beginning and an end? If not, is there really a past and a future or is it all just the present? Should the present be considered in a timeless context instead? Eliminate time and all is present? Our life's timeline is like an elastic band. We are born with a very short timeline. As we age the elastic band gets stretched. To the left of the present, lies the past, our history and memories....forever longer. The certainty of the past. To the right the future - alwa

On November 19 we headed up to Ottawa. Now that we live in Montreal, Ottawa is a short hour and forty-five minute drive away and therefore our intent is to go there fairly regularly to see the various museums and for a change of scenery. On our first trip we decided to take in the Parliament, walk around Byward Market and the path at the foot of Parliament that longs the banks of the Ottawa River. The Parliament Buildings are beautiful. Most impressive to me was the library with all of its intricate woodwork and carvings. A majestic room indeed. The thought and meaning behind the decorations was also very interesting. Stain glass windows, ceiling paintings, statues and plaques. It is a place that, for a relatively short history, humbles with history and sacrifices made by others on behalf of Canada. It was an enjoyable visit......and it included a laugh. After passing a second set of airport-style security we, at around 12:50, took our seats in the Public Gallery of the House t

A few years ago I attended a conference as a guest of an Indian IT outsourcing company. Some of their other invited customers were managers from the airline industry. I remember listening to these people talk about their competitiveness and their innovation. A question immediately popped up into my mind, which I did not ask, unfortunately. "To me innovation is about offering new products and new services. Distinguishing yourself by adding more value, often for the same price. How is it that cutting services and/or starting to charge extra fees from them can be considered innovative?" Over the last years the airlines have started charging for booze, food, seat selections, head phones, blankets, pillows. I remembering reading that Ryanair was considering charging for the use of toilets (see link ). Now I am reading that Air Canada is going to introduce a charge to people requesting the bulkhead or exit rows as they have extra leg room. Pity those mums travelling with k

Last night, for the first time in a year, I meditated. Coincidentally this was exactly one year after I first tried meditation. The scene could not be different however. A year ago I was in Koya-san, a mountain retreat established by Kukai, the founder of the Shingon school of Buddhism. Yesterday I was in the media room of the Beaconsfield library. What a contrast. Of course location should not make a difference at all. If one concentrates on the moment, on breath, on all senses and if one tries not to focus on the bombardment of thoughts coming in to distract, one should be able to feel the same here, there and everywhere. Or so goes the theory. I have been looking for, and continue yearning for, a present of the present. But no one will hand it to me or give it to me....I need to find it within and this is very hard indeed given my 100 mile an hour brain. How to stop it? How about just slowing it down? How to stop comparing the present to the past? How to stop improving t

I just finished reading an article from the Canadian Press which was published Sunday. It talks about the sanitary conditions in the Maple Leaf Foods plant in Toronto that was in the news in 2008 due to a listerioisis outbreak that killed twenty-two people. I wrote about this back in September 2008 and feel a need to restate my opinion again. One month after the Toronto plant was re-opened inspectors found slime, rust, mould, meat parts and other dirt on various bits of equipment. Some of the items were resolved a month later but not all. So now, twelve months later, I can't help but wonder what might be lurking in the corners of the plant, in the knife holders, under the work counters, etc. If public safety was at risk back in 2008 how can it be that it took twelve months for this to be picked up and reported on by the press? Anyone who cooks and spends time in a kitchen knows that it takes some effort to keep even an apartment kitchen clean. Food scraps end up stuck betwe

This short came from a car ride I took a few months back. We were driving to see my dying father in-law and my son asked "What happens when you take your foot off the accelerator?" The car speeds along the road. We each live life at our own speeds on unique roads. The car slows as I lift my foot off the accelerator. Full of life we can't imagine slowing down. The car stops and I walk out to say, We can only hope to have said, Goodbye? Let me know what you think about what you have just read. Please and thanks!

Back in June 2008 I wrote about rules and how they put a damper on creativity. Now I am starting to have an additional view about those rules and regulations we all read and either must comply to or feel obliged to due to some new "best practice". Here are two examples that will give you context. One. We recently moved in to a house built in 1965. Before buying it we had it inspected. The house is in great shape, buy it. Great. We did. In the report there were a few things that the inspector noted. One of the items was that the window sills are made of brick. Those particular bricks are a little more exposed to rain water, snow and the thawing and freezing affects because of their flat orientation. He suggests that we should put some sort of water sealant on the sills to protect them. This all makes sense of course. So here is the way I have digested the information. "Oh my gosh! The bricks need to be sealed as soon as possible because they are on the verg

Halloween has come and gone but all the candies that my children collected are still piled high five days after the big day. So we are having regular treats now. Smarties is one of the more popular options in my family because there are many candies in a box (apparently size does not matter when it comes to candies.....), they are colourful and they are fun to sort into their respective colours. So...yes....they are colourful. Intelligently the makers of Smarties (Nestle) have decided to no longer use artificial colours in Smarties. Good news. They announce this on the side of the box by stating "No Artificial Colours*". If you follow the asterisk to the back of the box Nestle goes on to say "Non-Artificial Colours are prepared from natural sources. For more information visit www.smarties.ca". So I went there to find out more. The page with all the details is http://www.smarties.ca/main/english/noartificial.html. Question 2 on the page tells you that "

The jet is sitting on the tarmac. It is -4 Celsius outside. Buried in the massive hull of the airplane lies a tiny package destined for my son...... On October 30, Friday, I bought an iPod from the apple.ca store. The device itself is approximately 45mm by 18mm by 8mm and weighs 10.7 grams. On October 31 my order was filled and on November 2 it left Shanghai, China at 21:30. It was in Anchorage at 11:52 the same date (local time). It should be here, in Montreal, on November 4 according to UPS. This is amazing. Here I was, at home, in my slippers, one afternoon. I clicked and bought this tiny device that will allow us to store 4GB worth of data. The click started an amazing chain of events that is only possible due to the amazing human brain and its ability to create a telecommunications network and devices that allow for almost instantaneous transmissions of credit card information between consumer and supplier, address details between consumer, supplier and shipper. Imagine f

New and improved. We all like that. Faster computers, cameras with more mega pixels, larger chocolate bars, different smells for soaps, etc. Many years ago I used to watch 60 Minutes religiously every Sunday evening and would look forward to Andy Rooney's commentary at the end of the sixty minutes. Today when I bought a bottle of Children's Tylenol I was reminded of one of Andy's commentaries. It was one of those where he covers his already messy desk and office with boxes of crackers, cookies, cereals and rolls of toilet paper and paper towels. He goes on to compare the present's product (new and improved often times) with the past's product carrying the same brand and name. The Ritz crackers now have 50 less grams in the package. The chips have less as well but the bag is the same size. Now you get twenty fewer squares of bumwad. You pay as much (or more) and you now get less of the newer and better, improved, product. So back to Tylenol. I was buying i

The music is streaming in to my ears it goes and into my brain trying to distract me from my thoughts of past and future. The light is dimmed and illuminates with an orange glow. Surrounded by family yet wondering what is important in my life. Should family be first? Four? Six? Eight? Extended? Friends? In or out? Friendly advice or annoying opinions? Is it all just a search for distractions and an inability to express an opinion a lack of confidence, of place. Music, oh music....distract me! Let me know what you think about what you have just read. Please and thanks!

When I moved back to Quebec this summer I told myself that I would try to not get involved in politics. I have very little respect for most politicians as I find that they are egotistical, power hungry people who allow their beliefs to be twisted by the essence of power that they smell. One of the reasons I left this province back in 1992 was the politics. I had seen too many hours (days!, years!) of conversation wasted on the topic. Family arguments, doors slammed, glasses of wine poured on heads, yelling, a family split apart all due to the f-ing politicians whose goal it is to divide and conquer. Shame to those who allowed the politicians to take language and make it a weapon in their war for votes. Shame on those who continue to make this an issue. My view of the world is that communication is vital. To resolve disputes, to create, to love, to share ideas, to better the world. There are many ideas lying within individuals all over the world yet they remain hidden from us all

A few days ago we went into a Starbucks here in Montreal. I ordered my regular drink, a Double Short Americano, and my wife ordered her Tall Soy Milk Latte. The dude at the counter shouted the order over to the barista - "One Piccolo Double Americano and one Mezzo Soy Milk Latte!!". Huh? The man told us that in Quebec Starbucks is not allowed to use the words Short and Tall. After a long absence from Quebec I had forgotten how ridiculous the French language protection law can be at times. Somehow replacing English words with Italian words will, I am sure of it, protect the usage of the French language. This in a place where the French language is regularly massacred in prime time television. Maybe they should clean up their act before trying to force others to learn Italian. One last comment......My thoughts wandered to my trip to Japan last year. There I was able to order a Double Short Americano...where this is a menu item. I just went to the Starbucks Coffee Japa

A few days ago I stumbled upon a TED Talk given by Jill Bolte Taylor. She is a brain scientist, a neuroanatomist, who suffered a massive stroke and had the insight - and the unbelievable energy - to pay attention to what was happening to her. The talk moved me. Here was a lady who let her heart out in front of an audience without any apparent concern for her mannerisms, her tone, her look on stage. She just let it flow and let it rip. In the process she touched the gathered audience in Monterrey, California in February 2008 and now is doing the same to people around the world via ted.com. She mentions in her talk that, during the stroke, she could no longer see the physical shape of her arms, her body or the walls around her. That she only saw that there was energy and that she could not clearly (or at all) determine where her body ended and the rest began. It was all just molecules and energy with no perceived shape. She had lost her ability to structure the world with her left

"There is no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation." - Pierre Trudeau I could not agree more with that statement. In my mind the state should not meddle in anything other than what is necessary to create and maintain an infrastructure required to allow its citizens to live free - in speech, travel, ideas, employment, art, business, etc. Laws should be limited to those that ensure public safety - physical and of property. All this is true so long as the Earth is organized into units called states. If we ever evolve to another organizational framework my theory might change. So what am I on about exactly and why? You already know that we recently moved within Canada, from on province to another. From British Columbia to Quebec. Well, in Quebec there is a 1981 law that forbids a woman from taking her husband's name. This is what triggered this ideeah . First let me state my position on the topic. A woman should be free to keep her name or to take the name

Over the last six weeks I have been touched by the deaths of two dear people, both members of my extended family, my wife's family. It has made me wonder... Are we individuals? Each going through life by ourselves. Are we individuals that rely on others to find our way? To we hold masks over our faces to hide ourselves from others? Do we pretend to be different from all others? Are we really? Are we proud? Are we modest? Are we humble? Are we part of a larger group? Symbolically, but also physically? Do we assign value to those we value most? Do we assess our values...do we actually know what we value....does it matter? Do all the passions, desires, dreams, accomplishments, failures that occur during our road through life really matter? I mean really matter....in the end when we reach the precipice and dive off the windy, bumpy, smooth, wide, narrow, scary, safe, unknown road? Why do we wait for the last turn on the road to forgive, thank, acknowledge our love? It is a confu

At 17:41 today I hung up the phone. I had just ordered a large Hawaiian pizza from Domino's pizza. At 18:18 I put my fork down. I had just finished my last bite. It is not so much the fact that the pizza got to my house in twenty minutes that amazed me - though I have to admit to slight amazement as pizza delivery shops typically say it will take 40 minutes for the pie to arrive at your door. In my ever wandering mind a few thoughts popped up - a few ideeahs - as they always do. First off I hoovered my food. In seventeen minutes I ate three slices and sucked back a bottle of Alexander Keith's Pale Ale. Yes I tasted them. Salt, cheese, bitterness. I imagine that I must have enjoyed the food though that sensation (of enjoyment) may have come more from watching my children eat pizza - a treat for them. But I did not cherish the food. I did not taste the wheat nor feel the grains on my tongue. I did not feel the elasticity of the cheese, the tanginess of the tomato sauce.