Human

I have been busy lately. There has been a lot going on in the office and I have been working on completing the requirements for a commercial pilot licence. I have found that a lot of what has been going on is technical in nature. I'm good with it but sometimes it removes the human side of things. Measuring headings and distances while you calculate intercept angles is not a job about people.

Having said that, every once in a while, no matter how technical things get there are human moments. There are the moments where you see someone you haven't seen for a while or hear about a new achievement of a co-workers's child. These are moments that really make you smile. You don't really need to seek them out they are there. All you need to do is notice them when they happen.

It may simply be that I'm not having as many human moments as usual which makes the ones that happen stand out a bit more. At any rate, they are there. You can see it when a Elvis impersonator is chatting with a couple of teenagers on the street as you walk home. Yo can see it when the summer students are getting a briefing from the Safety Manager in the construction site you walk past every day. It happens when you chat with an acquaintance while you wait for the rain to slow down.

I've been working in a lot of the technical aspects of my job and I think I've noticed more of the human moments in life. I hope I never lose the ability to be a little awestruck by human moments.

Exams

I'm completing a Transport Canada Commercial Pilot License - Aeroplane. There are two testing components, a written test, which must be completed first and a flight test. Yesterday I completed the written test. In case you are wondering I passed, but that's not what this is about.

I completed a four-year degree and that involves writing a lot of exams. They all went the same. Somewhere between one and two hours before the exam I would start to get nervous. It wasn't so much a scared feeling, more of an anxious feeling. Once the exam started I would settle in and get it done. When it would end, I would wind down and always find myself rather tired. It happened over and over again.

Yesterday, it was like I was back in university. The same feelings at the same times. It had been a long time since I had written an exam of that nature and I had forgotten exactly how I reacted but it sure felt familiar when it all started happening again.

It seems that will always be how I react to exams. I don't see this as a bad thing. Maybe its good. I have often told people that if important events don't make you a little bit nervous then they probably aren't worth doing. That's probably true in this case.

It can be easy to slip into a comfortable routine. I was like that until I undertook this project to upgrade my pilot's licence. Now I do feel a lot more alive. I feel like there is a bit of unknown coming and challenges to face. That's a good reason to get up in the morning.

Now the exam is over, the next big rush should come when I do the flight test. I'm hoping the weather and schedule will allow me to be ready for that in early July. Once again I will get nervous before and tired after. I'm ok with it, maybe because it reminds me of when I was younger or maybe because it may open a door to a new adventure some day.

Mom, Dad, and Lucky Ron

One of the things I discovered when I moved to Ottawa was The Lucky Ron Show. It's the same show every week, nothing new or different. It's a one man country act and he plays the really old stuff. If it's from the 60s, it may be too new for him.

Yesterday, I took my parents and they had a blast.

They had flown in so, after their flight was delayed, we dropped their luggage at my place and proceeded directly to The Laff. Thankfully a friend had been holding onto seats for us in the front row because it gets busy, early for Lucky Ron. The usual characters were out. There was Dave the Sound Wizard, Handsome Johnny, and Ron's wife.

Mom and Dad enjoyed their quarts of beer while we waited and chatted. Then the show began and instantly they were whipped up in the frenzy of one of the most bizarre cultural vortexes anywhere. As I have described in previous blog posts the show contains a lot of audience interaction and singing along. Mom and Dad were right into it, even trying to throw cigarettes into his guitar during Tilsonburg. (As a side note nobody managed to get the cigarette in this week, if you do you get 2 shots of Irish whiskey.) They laughed and smiled and enjoyed some beer.

Although I go many weeks, they readily admit that its not something that they would do all the time but I'm sure they will want to go the next time they come to town.

As we hopped into the cab to come home for the night, all of us a bit croaky from being loud and boisterous, we all agreed it was a good time. That's what it's all about, having a good time, a few laughs, and some good music.

Sense of Adventure

If you want to live a great life you need to have a few adventures. It's easy to slip into routine and stick to what you know. There are times you need that as a bit of a break but it can't be ongoing in perpetuity. 

I'm amazed at how many people never look for adventure. I'm even more surprised at how many people decline opportunities for something new when it is presented. I understand if there is a scheduling conflict or something out of your control preventing you from trying something new. I don't understand when people don't have a reason not to try it and still don't take advantage of the opportunity.

I was thinking a bit today how my life would be if I didn't try some things that were presented to me. They lead into each other. and have created a life I think is worth living. Some of the key opportunities were:

I joined Air Cadets as a 12 year old;

I learned to fly gliders at 16 and aeroplanes at 17;

I went to university; and

I took a job in and moved to Ottawa.

There were a lot of other great moments and adventures but those were key and a bit out of my comfort zone. I think learning to fly is a bit out of most people's comfort zone but it's really out there for a teenager. I learned a lot about myself on those courses. Since I still fly today, it's easy to say it was a pivotal in my life but I think it would have been true if I still wasn't flying.

If I didn't learn to fly gliders I wouldn't have gone to university. Now you need to realize that I truly believe a degree doesn't guarantee a job but it does open the door to employers to show off who you are.

Moving to Ottawa has been a big and positive change.  I love living in Sandy Hill and walking to work. I have met many interesting, fun, and talented people. It jsut feels like a great place to live.

All of these and many other adventures were outside my comfort zone. It wasn't that hard to jump in but I never really knew what to expect and not knowing is part of the adventure. It's the part I like because that's where the amazing things happen.

If We Could Change, How Should We?

I've been thinking about change a lot recently. There are a few reasons. The Liberal Party of Canada has chosen a new leader.  I don't specifically speak about work here but change is in the air at the office. It's spring, a season of renewal and change.

Through all this, I'm not sure what would be a good change. Back in the fall of 2010 I started a new job, in a new city, in a new province, in a new region of the country. It was a big change but I can say that I'm happy I made the switch. Overall I think my life is better. There are things I would still change if I had the chance but I can easily say I'm happy with my decision to make a change.

All that being said, I feel that more change is coming. I think it's coming on a national level in that what Canadians want is shifting. I think that it's coming on a personal level in some way shape or form. What I'm not sure of is this feeling coming on because there is a desire for something different or a clear path to something better.

Nationally, I'm starting to sense that Canadian's shifting priorities are ready to focus on something else. We did pretty good getting though the economic setbacks and most people are still above water but I get a sense that Canadians are finding the world a bit bland. They are safe but not inspired. They know its good but don't want to seem to make it great. There is a lot of wait and see instead of lets do something great.

However, maybe that's not most Canadians, maybe it's just me.

I don't seem to have that same adventurous feeling I do at times. I feel like I have to grind through everything. It's not a chore but its not inspired either. It's a follow the rules time not a change the paradigm time.

Another reason is I am getting older. It's nice to be comfortable. It's nice to be stable. It's not exciting and you don't get a rush but you do have a predictable life.

Don't worry, I'm not bummed out and I'm not going to do something stupid or dangerous to feel alive. However, when you spent a lot of your adult life going places on short notice and your plans for the day were often upset for something urgent or exciting opportunities popping up last minute, the predictable life is just that, really predictable.

I don't how how things are going to change, I gave up soothsaying a long time ago. I wasn't very good at it. It is a bit exciting to think there is new different and possibly exciting around the corner even if it may be new but bland. I just have a feeling that we are all going to be looking at some change, in some way coming at us. That is exciting and a bit scary, as it should be.

Being Bad

I don't really know why bad people do bad things. I think they may to advance their cause or ruin someone else's day.

Yesterday during the Boston Marathon a device exploded in the finishing area. This is terrible. It's wrong. There is no way to describe it any other way, and their shouldn't be.

All that being said there is something good people can do.

There are a couple of images of Fred Rogers floating around the internet with the following quote "When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, 'Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.'"

It made me thing a bit. This is what I realized as I read that. The bad people will try to do bad things, sometimes they will be stopped, sometimes they will be successful. That's not the important part. What really matters is when the bad people do bad things good people help each other get over it. Not because we have to but because we want to.

If we can help each other when it matter then they can't win. It becomes less effective because we lean on each other to get through it and we do it not because we have to but because we want to.

I'm not saying we want tragedy so we have a reason to help each other. We should be doing that every day. I'm just saying when these bad things happen we just have to change how we help each other.

So, the next time something bad happens, if you are in the position to help someone somehow, help them. Don't do it because you have to, do it because you want to and we will take the power away from bad people. 

A New Trudeau

I don't know who I'm going to vote for in the next Canadian federal election. It's still over two years away and a lot can change between now and then. That being said, The Liberal Party of Canada has chosen Justin Trudeau as it's new leader.

I'm not sure what to expect from this. I have been disappointed by the Liberals for a long time. Stefane Dion was not a good choice for the leader. I'm sure he is a nice man and tries to do his best but I could not support the idea of him being the face of Canada in the international community. Michael Ignatieff treated the Liberal Party like a hobby. I didn't like him either.

So far, Justin Trudeau has not alienated me.

There are some things he has going for him. This may sound trivial but he has great hair. It matters in a business that image matters so much. He can give a speech, also very important in politics. Those two things along with his famous father give him star power. Again this is important in politics.

He can start to remake the image of the Liberal Party. Right now, they seem like an old and stogy party. Trudeau is a young 41 and he may be able to get younger Canadians excited about politics. He may be able to make things that matter to people under 40 a priority.

There are still a lot of questions about the man. He hasn't said a lot about what he would do if he was running the country. He may have great ideas, he may not. Today we just don't know.

It's too early to tell if Justin Trudeau can fix what's ailing in the Liberal Party of Canada. It's too early to see if they can become a credible alternative for Canadian. If I can give him one piece of advice, drop the "Canada's natural ruling party' rhetoric, That doesn't sit well with anyone but card carrying Liberals and there are not enough of those to win the election.