Stand up for Dramatic Effect
There is something pretty cool about a group of kids jamming in the garage. As a teenager, my daughter played sax in a band called Jafuska for three of four years and I used to love taking her to practice and later, going to their gigs. Jafuska played Jazz, Funk and Ska (hence the name) and had quite a few gigs around town, but the band disbanded when they finished school and each went their separate ways. Now I’m doing the ‘parent groupie’ thing again, but this time with my stepson, Alex. Alex is our 14 year old and he has...
read moreA sad day for all the family
Yesterday we found out that Buddy, our 10-year-old Labrador’s lungs are riddled with tumours and it is only a matter of time. We all have stories about the greatest dog we ever had, but what is different about Buddy is that he is an ex guide dog. Janine has always describes him as a ‘gentleman’ ‘“ and the description fits. Buddy is a dog with manners. When we picked him up from the vet yesterday, I looked into his eyes and it struck me’¦ I know how sad we are at the inevitability of it all, but I can’t...
read moreDogs, Teenagers and Responsibility
We have two dogs, Buddy, the older one and Shadow (no prizes for guessing he just follows Buddy around all the time). As Buddy has started getting older, Shadow has really begun to irritate him. Because Buddy is sick at the moment we have separated them into different yards. Buddy spends a lot of time inside and Shadow has become a bit neglected. I had decided to take Shadow for a walk up the mountain before breakfast this morning, so out into the cold wind and rain I headed. Usually we take both dogs for a walk, and there is a point where we...
read moreGroundhog Day in Reverse
One of the things I love about going for my morning jog is that it gives me a chance to think about the day or the week ahead. As I went around the lake yesterday morning, my head was filled with things that I needed to sort out. I came up with a pile of solutions, plus some new ideas and a few completely new strategies. So much so, that I decided to spend the morning sitting in a coffee shop with pen and paper to nut it all out. My afternoon was completely lost on an IT project I’m doing for the local school. (I was kindly...
read moreThe Power of Lateral Thinking at Work
There is a great lesson here in the power of lateral thinking. What could you achieve if you started to ‘think outside the...
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