Some of Life’s Simple Pleasures


Some of life’s simple pleasures need not cost much money, but can put the heart at ease. One may always reach and strive for more worldly possessions, but is this a true measure of success?

Simple pleasures:

  • Hearing laughter that follows tears
  • Baking cookies in the afternoon
  • Riding bikes in the winter
  • Dodging water drops as it starts to rain
  • Warm wind on your face
  • Climbing to the top
  • Hearing snow crunch beneath your feet
  • The trickle of water flowing through the downspout
  • Working the system to get better food for your family
  • Talking to friends

IBM Turns Surplus Workers to Export Products


In a move after surplusing 4,000 employees in the U.S. and Canada, IBM has created a program called “Project Match”, offering them jobs in various Third world countries. This program was discussed in Informationweek this Monday.

___On the positive side these workers are already surplused, so for IBM to offer them any position anywhere is positive. IBM will help in some relocation and immigration support. While the salaries will be a fraction of their North American wage, these workers can have a great international experience and live a life of luxury, with drivers, maids and gardeners at their beck and call.

Milk Allergy and Kosher Labelling for Good Health


On a recent airline flight we ordered kosher meals, but only for one person in our family. The stewardess looked at us quizzically, but gave us our kosher meal anyway. She double checked to ensure we had indeed ordered it. There was no mistake; we were the ones that ticked the kosher box when booking our tickets. As the long flight progressed the stewardess, now quite curious, asked us why we would order the kosher meal. On this trans Pacific flight, of the 500 or so passengers, we were the only ones that ordered a kosher meal.

Google.com loses it’s English voice


I like Google, I really do. It’s my primary search engine. I like their university roots and what they’ve done. There’s no question they have shaped and nurtured the internet in a way no other search engine has done. Searches come back lickety split and Google Scholar is awesome. Their photos and news section are tops.

I can input both English and Chinese (Mandarin, 普通话, 国语) on my computer. Mostly I type English, and every so often I do Chinese. Sometimes I like to torture myself by going to Mainland China and Singapore websites to read Chinese. It’s not often but a little searing pain between the ears helps you appreciate what you have. A reasonable memory for Chinese words. And English.

Driveway Snowbanks are over 5′ high

Driveway, sidewalk and snowbank, on S's side

Driveway, sidewalk and snowbank, on S's side

     


In true Canadian spirit, we must talk about snow and winter. This winter is unique in that while it has snowed a little more than an average year, there has been very little melt. This means that, not surprisingly, the snow accumulates. In downtown Toronto, snow may be carted off in trucks to a local park and dumped, but in most residential areas, it is simply too expensive.

My neighbour S has a snow service that clears his driveway with a truck. The truck has a plow and scrapes the snow backwards towards the street. Once on the street the snow is pushed up onto the side of the curb.

I moved my Blog to DonTai.com


Today I moved my blog from dontai.Wordpress.com to my own hosting space on Site5, primarily because I wanted to experiment with the dizzying variety of themes and plugins. WordPress.com was gracious enough to host me, but I think I was about to outstay my welcome. I wanted to download themes and install plugins, which i could not do. The basic functionality was there, but flexibility was not.

I sure was not disappointed. I only got around to looking at the first 10 pages of themes, and the first 10 pages of plugins. There sure are a number of very busy WordPress themers out there.