Sowrey.org

…and I feel, well, okay. Maybe not necessarily “fine”.

Critical Mass has done a bit of a reorganisation. I emphasise “a bit”. Mostly because this is not the radical shifts we’ve seen in the past. I think this is my third or fourth reorganisation since starting with Critical Mass back in 2000 (admittedly, I’m losing track), and this is the most minor change we’ve had.

At least when you look at the big picture.

Read the rest of this entry »

Last night I had the opportunity to do something I’ve wanted to do for a very long time — eat at Ruth’s Chris Steak House.

We got one in Calgary a few months ago. It’s built into the base of the Calgary Tower, on the second floor. It’s a really nice decor (although Martin did note that it made him feel like he was dining at the Restaurant at the End of the Universe), and outstanding service (something that seems to be lacking in many places these days).

Read the rest of this entry »

That’s the temperature right now.

With the wind chill.

My knees are numb.

My thighs are pink blocks of frozen flesh.

I think my eyeballs fogged over when I walked in the office.

Going home is going to be about as much fun — the non-wind chill temperature is only going up two degrees from -30 to -28. I suspect the wind won’t help any.

I just came across a rather … well, odd article on CBC.ca. It’s a blueprint for 2018. Apparently, the Calgary City council thinks that there should be a bullet train from here to Fort McMurray.

Someone’s been sniffing oil fumes too much, methinks.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by mobile phone:
I’m sort of working from home today (taking care of my family is more accurate). We had to drive down to the south end of town to Alex’s doctor. If you live in Calgary, you know what that means today.

For those of you who haven’t heard, Calgary had another dump of snow last night. In theory, that shouldn’t really matter — this is Calgary, after all.

Even though it is still autumn seasonally, winter always comes early at this latitude. It arrived a couple of weeks ago. You’d think after that time, people would adjust…

North and south of the city, cars are piled in the ditches. Cars stalled on city streets. Traffic moving at a snail’s pace — and by the time we hit the road, the roads were merely wet.

The forecasters say this will be the coldest winter in 15 years. One can only wonder how accurate the forecast will be, and how much snow we will get.

And how many cars will end up in ditches…

I had hoped to go some place warm for the Christmas holidays this year. I wanted to put Christmas lights on a palm tree. I wanted to make sandmen. I wanted nothing more to worry about than getting a sunburn on Boxing day.

So naturally, I ended up arriving at Pearson International Airport at 6:30 on the morning of 23 December, catching the end of a nasty two-day snowstorm. There’s poetic justice in this, somewhere.

Read the rest of this entry »

I can’t even call this a “last day”. Yesterday, really, was our last day. Today is the packing/travelling day.

And the day to say goodbye to dear friends. I hate leaving friends behind.

Read the rest of this entry »