on twitter | D’Arcy Norman dot net
A brave man just deletes his Twitter account.. I often wonder how many great blog posts and discussions we’ve missed since the rise of Twitter. Worth clicking through and reading in it’s entirety.
All I need a super job to convince Jennifer that it would be good to do.. heh heh.
First Community Heated with Solar Power Built in Canada, Eh.
(Via EcoGeek.org.)
Nice to see my home country and home province doing some really advanced stuff in being green.. I like this little bit:
Even with sunny Alberta weather, it will take approximately three years to fully charge the BTES field. In the first years of operation, the field will operate at relatively low temperatures, and the recoverable energy will be largely depleted before the end of the heating season. However, after a few years of operation, the core temperature of the BTES field will approach 80°C by the end of summer, with sufficient heat for almost an entire heating season.
Check it out: Drakes Landing Solar Community.
I’m watching the finish of the Dallas/Vancouver game in VS in HD, and damn. Hockey rocks in HD. Far better than SD, not as good as in person though.
Go Vancouver Go!
It’s always fun when you are home, and it’s brown, and this shows up:
City of Calgary
9:35 PM MST Tuesday 26 December 2006
Snowfall warning for
City of Calgary continued10 to 20 centimetres of snow expected Wednesday.
An intense low pressure system from the pacific is forecast to track inland along the U.S. border overnight bringing snow to southern Alberta. Snow is expected to start overnight and fall throughout Wednesday bringing 10 to 20 centimetres of snow. A few flurries may linger Thursday as the system moves eastward.
Over the weekend my family in Calgary Alberta did a walk to raise funds for Parkinson’s research. A few of you might know that my dad Lou has Parkinson’s, having had it for about 4 or 5 years now.
Here’s Team Lou, decked out in their shirts that my sister Michelle made:
And here’s the back of my brother’s shirt, with a few extra additions to the back:
I’ve been enjoying watching Edmonton and Carolina play in the NHL Finals.. the fans in Edmonton have been awesome, with their silver pompoms going in the air.. I can feel the energy way down here in Portland. The “We want the cup” chant gave me goose-bumps.
It’s down to one game, Monday night on NBC, 5pm pacific. Watch it. If you are in portland and want to drop by, leave a comment. 
Update: Ya, great game, but Edmonton lost. The awesome reaction by the Carolina players made up for the loss though, I was happy Carolina won after seeing that.
I had a very interesting class tonight – I am taking some business classes, to get me out of the house, and help me learn more about the business side of things (vs the technical side).
My current class is International Business, and tonight part of the class we talked about peoples opinions of one another, and how that could affect international business.
The professor, who is the director of emergency response at Northwest Medical Teams, asked me, as a Canadian, what my thoughts on Americans overseas were. And I expect I had the typical response that people have heard, that there is the stereotypical view of an American as a very loud, arrogant person who wants other cultures to bend to their view and beliefs, vs trying to fit in to a particular place or culture.
Another student also related an experience of being in the Louvre, very quietly viewing paintings with other art lovers. And he came upon 4 guys, drinking beer and being loud.. and they were Americans.
I think the problem is that all it takes is one poor experience to reinforce that view of Americans. There are a lot of people in America who are calm, quiet and respectful when the travel overseas. One can only hope that those people will help change that perception at some point in the future.
I’ve heard through my parents that hiring people in Calgary is really really hard.. it’s crazy up there, lots of construction, lots of people, lots of excitment (it seems). I hope it lasts.
PS: Can you believe with a title like “One Canadian’s Comments On Life” that I didn’t have a “Canada” category? Sad.. just sad.
CBC Calgary – Retailers bracing for staffing crunch over holidays: ”
Retailers bracing for staffing crunch over holidays
Last updated Nov 15 2005 03:00 PM MST
CBC News
Holiday shopping may take longer this year, as retailers scramble to find staff for the busy Christmas season.
And that has some business consultants advocating the hiring of more seniors, calling the retired set an untapped labour pool that can ride to the rescue.
‘Every field is experiencing a shortage of labour,’ retail analyst Phillip Jones said. ‘Where that crunch is going to be felt most keenly is at the bottom of the pay scale.’
Statistics Canada says participation in the labour force in Alberta is decreasing, despite thousands of new people moving to the province every year – the drop is largest for teenagers and women between the ages of 35 and 45, in part because higher household incomes may be reducing the need for more than one income.
Retail businesses are feeling that shortage, with most malls sporting ‘hiring’ signs in many of their stores.
Jackie Edd”
(Via CBC Calgary.)