Author Archives: Lorne Anderson
A Feeling of Emptiness
The retail sector has taken a beating this year, with lockdowns and enforced closures. The number of bankruptcies is soaring. Many stores, especially small ones, are not expected to survive the pandemic. Living in Sulzburg I knew that intellectually, but it hadn’t really hit home. Our stores haven’t been hurt. That may be because there […]
Reflections on Advent
This is the second Sunday of the Advent season, the time set aside to prepare for the birth of Jesus Christ. It is a time of anticipation, and spiritual reflection. Most years there is a Christmas Market in in front of the Rathaus (city hall) in Vienna. It is big and colorful with lots for […]
Is This Overkill?
It was more than 30 years that I first saw a group of Asian tourists wearing face masks. I was not impressed. I understood that the air might be polluted wherever they were coming from, but this was Canada. You would think they would take off their masks and enjoy our fresh air. In 2020 […]
The Christmas Market
One of the big casualties of the COVID-19 pandemic has been the cancelation of Europe’s many Christmas markets. These colorful Advent celebrations just aren’t happening this year. At various points this month I might give you a glimpse of what we are missing, starting with photos I took in 2017 in Colmar, France, which traditionally […]
Your Thursday COVID
Is it possible to go crazy in just seven days? Stir crazy at least. The Government of Canada, in its wisdom, says I have to stay indoors for two weeks upon entering the country. I agree with in theory, though in practice I can’t see what the harm would be if I were to go […]
Wandering Through The Neighborhood
I have a confession to make. I never watched Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. I’m the wrong age. By the time the program started, I was no longer interested in children’s shows. My children watched it, I think, though not that often. I was careful about their media consumption, but that show I didn’t need to watch […]
Security Issues
“It’s about my rock, isn’t it?” I asked. The security officer laughed. I knew it was the rock because it wasn’t the first flight of the day. Or the first time I had been asked to open my carry-on. In Frankfurt were was a small cluster of people gathered around the screen looking at the […]
One Every Minute
Nineteenth century American showman P.T. Barnum is usually credited as saying “there’s a sucker born every minute.” Certainly there’s a new one in India. Barnum didn’t actually say the words attributed to him, but he was not averse to a bit of fakery in his exhibits. He knew people were happy to buy illusion, even […]
No Game Today
For the first time in my life, there is no Grey Cup game. Canada’s national football championship, scheduled for today, has been canceled. The Canadian Football League is a gate-driven enterprise. Unlike the league to the south, television revenues are not enough to allow the teams to break even, or even operate at a small […]
What Customer Service?
It seemed like such a simple thing. How could it have gone so wrong? And why isn’t the system better? We needed to make changes to our bank account, which necessitated a trip the the branch around the corner. I normally do my banking online. The teller asked for our ATM cards. They do that […]
random thoughts from lorne 
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