Articles

“Why are they stealing catalytic converters?”  Doris pointed to a news report that said nearly $400,000 worth of damage had recently been done to cars in Winnipeg.  Almost 80 cars had their catalytic converters ripped out in January 2021 alone.  I tried to use this crime spree as a teachable moment.  Eric keeps telling me that there is no point in taking chemistry in school.  I told him that chemistry is important even in a life of crime.  Platinum is the catalyst in catalytic converters.  The…

“I have a dream today. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. I have a dream today.” Dr. Martin Luther King’s speech on Aug 28, 1963 feels like it could have been given yesterday and it would speak to so many of today’s problems. Dr. King’s speech is also full of hope and hope is an essential ingredient for any monumental societal change. I am definitely not in Dr…

"Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure ... than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat."  In 1899, Teddy Roosevelt said that in a speech called “The Strenuous Life” just before becoming US President.  That sentiment, to “Dare Mighty Things” is plastered on the walls of the Jet Propulsion Lab in California.  JPL has made many advancements…

My sister suggested we try to technologically get together over Christmas.  My sister and her husband are in Langley, BC.  My parents are in Pinawa, MB and my immediate family is in Dauphin.  We asked if my parents, who are in their mid-seventies, thought they could handle Zoom.  They said that they’d be fine.  My parents have been playing a lot of cards with their friends over the internet during the pandemic.  They play a lot of Bridge, I game I have never understood, but for the sake of the…

Where is the fracking file!  Keep your knickers on. I said fracking.  I wrote it on my laptop in Winnipegosis.  It was supposed to sync to DropBox and now be here on my home computer.  It isn’t.  So, it also isn’t on my phone.  So, I can’t record it at CKDM.  What am I supposed to do, just ad lib a pharmacy feature about insulin?  That’ll so great!  I’m sure I won’t sound stupid at all.  Wait a minute.  Maybe I just saved it to the wrong folder.  Okay.  There it is.  Now open.  Just open.  I sa…

``I`m done with adulting.  I quit.``  I have to agree with Emily.  Adulting sucks.  One day last week when Eric came home from school, he managed to open the deadbolt on the door, but also break his key off in the lock.  That led to several hours of trying to remove the dead bolt, stripping the Phillip’s head, and Doris, the handyman of our house, going to McMunn and Yates and getting a new one.  My 75-year-old dad was having trouble getting his printer to talk to his router.  Despite his age…

“I don’t see a problem with it.”  During the cold snap in January, it was difficult to get Eric to put on appropriate outdoor attire.  I’d ask him to walk Sheldon, the dog, and catch Eric at the front door dressed in a hoodie and slides.  Apparently plastic sandals without a heel strap are called “slides”.  No, I didn’t know that either.  I assume they are called slides because you can slide your foot in.  They are also appropriately named for what your feet do when you go outside with them at…

The scene begins with the skyline of Chicago.  The sky is a cloudless above the Sears Tower which is a little off to the left.  Center foreground is a completely empty highway.  The Star Wars soundtrack is playing.  Suddenly a red Ferrari, a 250 GT California to be precise, flies directly overhead.  Two valets have taken the car for an epic joy ride.  In real life, there is no way the Ferrari would have survived this jump, but this is a John Hughes movie.  The car just speeds off towards the Ci…

Dylan DeMelo didn’t make it to work Jan 14th.  In case you don’t follow them, DeMelo plays defensive for the Winnipeg Jets.  Jan 14th was the Jets Home Opener.  In fact, DeMelo says he won’t be playing until this Saturday.  The condition stopping DeMelo from playing seems to be more common than ever.  My co-workers at the pharmacy have noticed an increase in the condition in people coming into the store and calling for prescriptions.  One of our pharmacist’s daughter has the condition as well. …