Category Society
No Fortune For Me
When I was seventeen I was offered the opportunity to become a millionaire. I turned it down. I have no regrets. It was 1973 and I was working at the time for the local McDonald’s, making the princely sum of $1.12 an hour. Summer was ending and I had decided not to return to school, […]
The Steel Kiss
The fuss surrounding the now recalled Samsung Galaxy Note 7 phone didn’t really impact me. I use a BlackBerry, and there have been no reports of those phones catching fire. Then I read Jeffrey Deaver’s latest novel, The Steel Kiss, and now I am feeling a little paranoid. Maybe our phones are out to get […]
Monday Morning Trump
Three weeks until the US presidential election, and it would be so easy to devote this space solely to that topic until November 8, but I will show restraint and spare you that. Just a couple of quick thoughts for today. Two months ago I thought Donald Trump had the White House locked up. Today […]
Bob Dylan I – Nobel Laureate
In case you missed it, Bob Dylan was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature Thursday. It was a first for a singer/songwriter so there has been some criticism of the Nobel judges for their choice. I’ve seen Dylan in concert half a dozen times and I think, given this momentous award, I will post a […]
A Cautionary Tale
When an athlete fails a drug test it isn’t newsworthy anymore. It happens so frequently to professionals and amateurs alike. No-one really pays attention. The process has become ritual, a dance we all know so well. There is shock and denial at first. Then the suggestion the results are tainted, or the athlete took something […]
Building A Fence
Among American poet Robert Frost’s best known lines is one about how “good fences make good neighbors.” As a homeowner I have discovered that this can be true. And I’ve pretty much always had good neighbours. Driving the back roads of Renfrew County, traveling along the Opeongo Line, we got distracted by a sign that […]
Abandoned Cars
Who did they belong to? Why were they abandoned? When we’re they abandoned? Are they really abandoned? Is there a story here? Technically I am sure we were trespassing, but there were no signs, or at least none in the field we entered the area from. And we respected the signs on the buildings themselves, […]
Marijuana For Sale
I’m confused. Which makes me pretty much like every Canadian. We can be confused about many things and for many reasons, but what has me confused today is marijuana. And no, I have never smoked the stuff, so my confusion can’t be blamed on overindulgence. It is too much knowledge that causes my confusion. I […]
Commuter Etiquette
When I was young the British had a reputation: they knew how to queue. When a line formed in the UK, for whatever reason, it was always orderly. That fact would usually be mentioned as people were trying to find their way through a chaotic situation where an orderly line would have made things so […]
Crime and Punishment
Crime does not pay. But it does charge admission. We were in Rothenburg, and I already knew that one of the must-see sites for me was the Medieval Museum of Crime and Punishment. At least that is what my guide book called it, though I note the website refers to it now as the Medieval […]
random thoughts from lorne 
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