Happy BirthZAP to me
Posted by Geoff | Filed under General
A little over four months ago, Alex dragged us all out to see an eye doctor. It had been a couple of years since my last visit, so there was a pretty darn good reason to go back and visit. Not that I particularly wanted to go — I’ve got a phobia of anything touching my eye, and eye doctors have a bit of a tendency to do just that.
At the end of the appointment, the doctor told me she suspected I might have something called “narrow angles”, and sent me to an ophthamologist. It took nearly two months to get into see him. That was an awkward appointment, and ended up with the news that I needed surgery. Which I got, today, on my birthday. Laser surgery. In my eye.
Ow.
Four fun-filled days
Posted by Geoff | Filed under Children, Family, Photography, Trains
I sit here at my kitchen table, rubbing the weariness from my eyes. Not the things you’d normally hear from me, mind you — I haven’t been working too hard as of late (as you know, my big project is done). No, this is from something much better — spending time with my family, and notably you, Monkey.
The last four days have been a lot of fun. Maybe even too much fun. Both of us are pretty pooped. You went to bed and for the first time in a long while, there wasn’t hours of chatter from your room. I think you pretty much passed out. I won’t be too far behind you, I think, but I do wish to describe the fun that we’ve shared.
‘Cuz, frankly, I’m not sure how the heck I survived it all…
Tags: banff, china, CP 2816, DearMonkey, dim sum, japan, movies, zoo
Thank you, Nana
Posted by Geoff | Filed under Family
Earlier this afternoon, Sylvia Grace Jones (formerly Tisdale), passed away at the age of 97. She is survived by her children, Linda, David, and Brenda, her grandchildren Pam, Darren, Cathy, Jennifer, and yours truly, and a bunch of great-grandchildren. And that’s just on our side — through her second marriage to Eddie Jones, she has a flotilla of relatives that — in all truth — I’ve never met.
Nana was my last living grandparent. She was the special grandparent when I was young — she lived hours away by plane, so she was spoken of in near-legendary terms. She wasn’t just my Nana, she was Nana The Mysterious, Nana The Wise, Nana The Great Gift-Giver. She was the embodiment of never acting your age — truthfully, I didn’t even know how old she was until just a few years ago. She was a model of long-life, and happiness.
For those, and a million other reasons, I cannot say goodbye to you, Nana. I can only say: Thank you.
Monkey: Lost and Found
Posted by Geoff | Filed under Children, Family
Well, Monkey, you gave us perhaps the greatest scare of Mommy’s and my parenthood today. Sure, we’ve seen you really sick with a couple of nasty colds, you’ve cut yourself in a couple of nasty falls, and definitely given us some worries during our return flight to Canada so many months ago now.
But today … today was a new echelon in fear. Today Mommy and I joined the ranks of millions of other parents who have had that moment where they doubt all the confidence and belief they have built up over years of careful watch and control over their child’s life. They see it crash down in a single moment, utterly ruined when they come to the horrific realisation that they don’t know where their child is.
Today, Monkey, you disappeared.
Tags: DearMonkey
Visit Calgary: You’re Very Welcome!
Posted by Geoff | Filed under Careers, Family, Technology
When we returned from Costa Rica, our plans had been pretty simple: take off the month of December to get settled, and then head back to work in January. Plans changed shortly after arriving back home, and suddenly I found myself without a job. Bills still had to be paid, food purchased, and because we live in a city that is far too unfriendly to public transit, we also had to buy a car.
A few years ago, this probably would have put me into a panic. And a few years ago, it would have been just me to worry about. Now I have a wife and two kids (well, one at the time, and one on the way) to support. Really, that should have put me off the deep end. Having lived through a significant amount of adversity over the last couple of years, though, I found myself not even concerned about the prospect of unemployment.
I attribute that to having kept contact with just the right people.
Tags: content management, evans hunt, management, websites
A Dinosaur Day in Drumheller
Posted by Geoff | Filed under Children, Family
Hey kids, I know it’s been far too long since my last letter. Sadly, it’s that worst excuse of poor excuses: I’ve been working a lot. Back in January, I started with a new company, the Evans Hunt Group. The project has been a tough one (I’ll tell you all about it when it’s ready for public consumption), but it’ll be rewarding for a number of reasons (not the least of which is how much more I know about things in Calgary that you’ll both like).
I’m working with friends, people I’ve known for years — they’re people I also trust implicitly, so I have no reservations about working long hours. The downside, of course, is that I’ve seen less of you two. That’s probably what’s been hardest on me. Especially since Monkey probably feels a little neglected with all the time Mommy needs to spend with Choo Choo. It’s also why, despite the workload, I simply had to take some time to be with you and Mommy, and do something fun.
So went to see dinosaurs in Drumheller.
Tags: drumheller, museums
Look into my eye
Posted by Geoff | Filed under General
A couple of months ago, Alex arranged for all of us (herself, Monkey, and yours truly) to visit the eye doctor for a checkup. It’d been a couple of years since my last run, and given my age it was a wise idea. (I would love to know if there’s ever been a study on whether married men have better overall health, since their wives are usually the ones scheduling their appointments. Bachelors/single guys, take note!) Not that I particularly like the idea of anyone getting too close to my eyes…
The results were pretty much what I expected: I need glasses. Well, not need, but should probably get for reading and night time. And even then, it’s only a recommendation and not mandatory — I still see (more or less) fine, though there is a wee bit of blurriness. Dr. Amy (my first eye doctor) told me I’d need glasses when I was 40, and darn it I’m going to wait until I’m 40!
But then there’s the glaucoma…
Tags: health
Flash: I’m not dead yet!
Posted by Geoff | Filed under Rants, Technology
I’m getting a little tired of this topic. I was tired of it about a day after Steve Jobs first showed the iPad to the world, and the infamous blue LEGO appeared where a Flash plug-in should have been. It wasn’t really so much a shock to the world — Apple had been denying Flash applications on their iPod/iPhone platform all along. But this seemed to start off a little maelstrom the likes of which I haven’t read since people argued over on which end to start eating a hard-boiled egg.
The events of the last few weeks have been extremely tiresome to say the least. Far too many people and groups have been prognosticating the future of personal computing, and there’s been far too little in doses of reality. The future is coming, but it’s not coming nearly as quickly as everyone thinks it is, and rushing to meet the future will likely only harm the present. A little rational thought would be appreciated.
Okay, let’s address the elephant in the room, first. Steve Jobs hates Flash. There, I’ve said it. Now let’s move on.
Tags: apple, media, microsoft, movies, rich media
I’ve lost it
Posted by Geoff | Filed under General
Once upon a time, I had it. “It” being my state of fitness. Back in early 2003, my friend Arthur put me on an exercise and diet regimen. Over the course of a few months, I shed something like 30 pounds of flab, and gained at least 10 in muscle. (I surmise that by the slimness, combined with only a 20 lb difference on the scale.) Back then, I was in the best fitness I’d been in for years. Probably in my life.
So, here I am, a scant seven years later, probably at the opposite end of the scale. No, I haven’t ballooned out to slovenly proportions, but I’m definitely not where I was by the end of 2003. I’m far, far from it. How do I know this? Because I biked today, for the first time in (what Alex figures) is about three years.
All I gotta say is: Holy crap, I’m outta shape.
Marketing is from Mars, IT is from Venus
Posted by Geoff | Filed under Rants, Technology
I’ve spent over a decade in the Big Leagues of interactive marketing. I started in the low rungs as a web developer, and slowly worked my past the coding to see the bigger pictures: what made marketing work, why certain campaigns were better than others, how to think like a client, and so forth. These are all truly interesting skills, and helped a lot with the projects I worked on.
One thing that regularly amazed me, however, was how often a client’s internal IT group seemed to have non-trivial input on almost every aspect of an initiative, from the way it was hosted right down to the specific use of a given image. I often found myself watching our best-laid plans being eaten away to the point of delivering something I was less than happy with. The repeat experience led me to focus on one inexorable fact:
IT departments should never have any input on the marketing website. Ever.
Tags: marketing
