Category Archives: Lifes Lessons

Lifes Lessons, Personal Development

Mount Everest Delusional Vanity

They make it up to be a “dream” but in actual fact the quest to scale Mount Everest is nothing more than delusional vanity. Some brother, niece, or grandparent gets the notion of putting their life on the line literally by hoisting themselves up an escarpment via a route prepared specifically by professional guides. Every successful arrival at the summit is done so with the aid of fixed ropes and ladders affixed to two routes used. The treasure required for an attempt is in the tens of thousands of dollars. This is money not put to purposeful use for worthy philanthropic causes, family vacations, educational pursuits, etc.

We hope that the human ego has means to mature as temporal chronology unfolds. We sort of assume this as a survival mechanism but there could be something amiss in the mind. We grant liberty and climbing permits but we do so without measurement of cerebral capacity. Societies grapple with sociological deviance not knowing how to put restrictions on liberty.

Could it be that the creative power of the mind has been restricted by those with the delusional obsessive schemes? Could it be that social and family connections have been so severed in some that such schemes gain fertile fuel through imbalance? Could there be an esteem issue whereby the manifestation of such an outlet is undertaken in order to gain self worth?

2023 has seen twelve deaths to date including a Vancouver B.C. anaesthesiologist. Over 300 deaths have been reported on the mountain to date associated with this misadventure. The Nepalese government et al receives approximately 5 Million dollars annually in permitting revenue.

Lifes Lessons

Remembering Deb Hope

Despite not knowing her personally, I reflect on my memory of Deb Hope in context of the recent  cynicism portrayed of women by men on youtube and I having known her as a viewer of the “news hour”. Deb Hope was an unpretentious news anchor and her innocent charm is what I found most appealing during all those dinner time news hours back in ’81 –’82. You see, mom, Aunt Mina and I watched the BCTV news hour with TV tables in the living room in Kamloops when dad was away working in the mines.  She had big eyes and laughs came easily as she bantered with weatherman Wayne Cox. She was atypically genuine as the “lady” next door within a news anchor role. Even at such a tender age I found something radical about this human transparency elicited from a television tube.

So what is it about this context in which I compare her life? Some youtube channel has spouted an unflattering stat characterizing the “modern woman.” It’s conceived that the pursuit of the modern woman leads to a destination of vanity laden emptiness.

Deb Hope died of Alzheimers Disease today. It was early onset. She was only 58 years old at discovery and passed away today at 67. She was the antonym of the “modern woman” and disenfranchised men should look to traits like hers in restoring faith in their dating quest.   

Lifes Lessons

Travel Fiasco Xmas 2022 & Customer Service Generally

There was a travel fiasco during Xmas of 2022. It’s about values and conscientiousness. If values have been eroded and folks don’t care, service levels suffer. If an ego is so activated, there is trepidation with communication in fear of culpability. In a nutshell, this is what would have happened in the airline industry during Christmas of 2022. Things were off the rails and folks were patronized instead of treated with dignity. Let’s be clear. It’s undignified to basically hold one hostage with an absence of information.

Today the big wheels convene to sort out the mess and review the “Passenger Bill of Rights”. This amendment will be interesting in the context of competing interests and international differences in standards. 

Generally, there has been a wholehearted movement away from the telephone. The telephone is brilliant technology much more adept at handling multiple topics quickly without the need for typing skills. It has been a conduit for conducting commercial transaction for over a century. In fact, vocal tones in and of themselves along with what is not said provides for positivity in an exchange. Yet, newer generations swipe dismiss and fail to check their voice mail. 

Just today I spoke in consternation with a firm which has also admitted to dropping the ball in their relationship with me. Of course, all of the particular wheel spinning could have been avoided with a transparent adroit phone call.

You are right now involved in relationships with large corporations which do the following:

  1. They send you emails with the term “no-reply” in their email address.
  2. Do not provide a 1-800 number for service.
  3. Require you to deploy a smart phone to conduct a transaction only when an in person or voice telephone means is practical.
  4. Receive emails from service agents who do not include their name and /or phone number in the signature of an email.
  5. Have failed to notate relevant particulars to your account therefore requiring its repeat on subsequent outreach.
  6. Take up your valuable time with their propaganda in an outgoing phone message prior to providing a prompt.

You have mostly thrown up your arms in apathy because you feel there is no recourse. Then you become the one sleeping on an airport floor with your two year old. 

Lifes Lessons

Heart Break At Manitoba U.S. Border

One wrong- headed move and your life could be over just like this family of four from India. The Canadian elements have lead to heart break at the Manitoba U.S. Border for one family not necessarily accustomed to how cold it can get. I’ve spent time in the far north in the winter time and I’ll tell you – even if well prepared….the Canadian winters are a brutal force.

It was the summer of 1983 (that’s right – a Canadian summer day) and I was working as a summer student at a gold mine as a millwright’s assistant in between first and second year of university. I was stationed out of Thompson Manitoba but was flown into a mining camp some 200km north of the Manitoba border into Nunavut (was still the N.W.T. back then) on a one week in and one week out rotation.

There is much camaraderie in the mining business and I was the mill superintendent’s son. There would have been an unspoken agreement among those working in the mill to ensure to look out for the kid. One day there was a blizzard and it was time to go for lunch. The mess hall was only 200 feet from the mill but in a “white out” you’re lucky to see your hand in front of your face never mind 200 feet into the distance. However; a vague outline of the destination building was visible. The mill exit door and the mess hall entrance were corner to corner and if you missed the corner and became disoriented, you’d be potentially left vulnerable to the freezing cold Canadian north.

As an eighteen year old, I had already experienced life in the far north having lived in a place called Cantung, N.W.T  as a child in 1975/76. I had cross country skied and snowmobiled up there in very cold conditions. There was talk of dress and respect for the cold. Parents had lived life on the prairies of Canada rurally growing up. A culture of cold had been nurtured within.

In other words, I had been conditioned to formulate a plan just for going for lunch on that wintery summer day. I ventured back from the exit to find a mill operator who would monitor my trip with signals and sound. After lunch….conditions changed and the trip back was all clear. This one small measure was relatively hassle free.     

It’s heart shattering to have learned that this family of four from India froze to death in their quest for a new life in the U.S. It’s maddening to learn that there’s not better coordination of law enforcement between countries.