It was a sad week as we said goodbye to a good friend and young teaching colleague taken from this world two months ago. After the funeral, Karina and I were reflecting on my friendship with Kendall and the ridiculous number of things he accomplished in his short life. The best thing about running into him out and about in the community was that there he always had something interesting going on. Kendal was always building something cool, planning a project, and more often t

In digital design or video games, the creator will often embed unique little secrets, treasures, or hidden surprises that players will discover along their quest. These ‘Easter eggs’ trigger excitement and intrigue, enhancing the user experience, and creating connection amongst players. I've noticed that real life is the same. While preparing to head cross-country with the combine for my last voyage of the season, and coincidentally running out of any snacks for the drive, I

The Moonshots podcast with Peter Diamandis keeps me updated and inundated with the latest and greatest on AI, technology, and everything optimistic about our techno-infused future. Alex, the podcast’s resident genius, was commenting today on how we have already reached a billion human-equivalent agents working on a variety of tasks around the world. He surmised that within the next year or two, this number could grow to trillions. If you are someone who works in a knowledge i

While learning about compressed air in Grade 5 this week, we added an ‘ad-lib’ rocket-building experiment with some materials that we had around our science room. Quite simple: 30 minutes, tin foil, tape, and a syringe. Design, test, iterate…repeat. 10 years from now, students likely won't recall the definition of matter, but there is a high likelihood that they may recall the feeling of excitement while competing to hit the ceiling tiles with a hand made rocket. The world

If you are like me, I will bet you can count on one hand, the number of times someone has asked you meaningful questions about you. “What is Olive enjoying these days?,” or “How are you enjoying __________?” Nothing leading, no setup to interject an opinion, or idea that they are itching to share, simply deep real questions from a place of curiosity and caring. It is so rare. We’ve discussed this often recently. Is it a general lack of curiosity? Is it poor training and pra

When I arrived at my chair at the end of today’s teaching day, one of my grade five students had left me a sweet little note. “Have a fantastic day, teacher”. Were the words on a heart-shaped paper. During lunch break on the same day a different grade 3 student stopped me in the hallway to ask, “Do you know what time it is?”. To which I replied: “Lunchtime?” To which she responded “Hug time!”, and proceeded to give me a huge hug. For someone who has spent a career in seconda

As someone who generally flits from task to task, measuring success as the number of outcomes achieved in the shortest amount of time, I often scoff at my father-in-law Stan’s, favorite saying: “take time, take time”. In a world of more, faster, better, and newer, there is something refreshing about encountering the opposite; craftsmanship, tradition and legacy. This week I held a newly fabricated sheath for my cherished knife, and was enamoured by the feel of the leather,

When Olive and Hazel accompany us on our weekly ‘milkshake visit’ to Gramps at his seniors lodge, the girls are quite popular amongst the residents who don’t get much exposure to the youth. This week as an elderly man in a wheel chair yelled for Hazel to read to him, he was quite taken aback when she stopped and obliged his request. Ten minutes and three ‘board-books’ later, both Hazel and the man were grinning ear to ear, clearly the best part of both their days. There is s

Week one teaching my new grade five class was a 10 out of 10. Nice kids, high energy, tons of movement, and the feeling of untapped potential. I loved the whole week. The best part. Every day after ten short periods across a variety of subjects, I’d look up at the clock and be surprised at how fast the time had evaporated. The time dilation was a stark contrast to my typical desk workday. The world is changing fast as knowledge work is being eaten alive by AI, however I beli

Three and a half years into my Jiu Jitsu journey, and I am still a beginner. Every single class I am humbled by how little I know, and how the opportunity for growth is infinite. The best part is that I know that forty years from now (at 86) I will still be learning. I’m also convinced that despite all the bumps and bruises, the ‘forced contortionism’ combined with the sheer difficulty of the sport, has resulted in the best health and mobility of my life. As a middle-aged m

Hazel won’t eat home cooked burgers. Surprisingly, Hazel will eat multiple homemade ‘smash burgers’. Both burgers have the same basic ingredients, beef, veggies, bun etc., however Karina informs me that smash burgers have two small but significant differences. First they are smashed at a high heat which sears them and locks in the flavour and juice, and secondly they contain a special ‘smash sauce’. Like so many things in life the difference between a great experience, and a

I am able to bookkeep thousands of bank transactions in minutes using Claude AI. The best part is that once I give clear instructions, and the input data, the agent works autonomously freeing me to complete other projects or simply hang out. The future is here. We live in a world of agent assistants and Artificial Intelligence hungry to devour complex knowledge work with a few dollars of tokens of compute cost. Frontier AI models such as Claude, Chat GPT, Gemini, Grok, Kim

A Megan Maroney concert gave us the excuse to visit Seattle over the long weekend. In the months leading up to the concert we learned her tunes, found our favorites, and let the excitement build. Having attended many concerts over the years, I was taken aback by the quality of the show and how different it was than most other shows. 90% of the stadium was 15 to 25 year old females, dressed in matching pink outfits, versed in all the lyrics, and super excited. The youthful v

It would be an understatement to say I was frustrated during our last cabin visit when a leaking cistern caused a water pump failure, which identified a sump-pump problem. This gave us a weekend of carrying water for toilet and cleaning, and more importantly added three new projects for my to-do list. Fortunately with a shop full of tools, and a farming father up to any challenge, we booked another family road trip, and went to work on the repairs this week. It took many hou

Cosmo would spend all day hunting prey. Bounding hole to hole, sniffing, digging, waiting, never tiring, and never stopping for food. It's in his nature. It's what he was designed for. Unfortunately, his tether to our civilized world has limited him to a three acre farm yard, with intermittent escape missions requiring search party retrieval. We love him too much to risk him being run over by traffic, or lost to nature. Many humans I know share an analogous problem. While d

Overthinking plagues many of us. It restricts our ability to take decisive action, iterate, or move forward quickly. ‘Analysis paralysis’ and perfection, preventing work from ‘shipping’. I now keep the word "underthink" stuck to my desk, to remind me to take action. I have had this blog in ‘draft’ for months…. I have work to do. Underthink. Now that's a peak ethos.

I was proud watching Olive return from a run with Karina this week. Though she has just turned thirteen she is already building an impressive routine of health and fitness habits. She has also won the life lottery by having a mother who emulates these positive behaviors. If your peers consume alcohol often, you will likely drink. If your friends eat junk food daily, your eating habits will suffer. And if you surround yourself with people who prioritize exercise and fitness,

For the past seven days I’ve been unplugged in Maui. Between making espressos, hitting the morning workout, packing for the beach, swimming, boogie-boarding, and shopping I have allocated zero time to email or work. For the first time in years I even missed my Friday 6pm blog deadline, to instead hang with the fam and go to bed on time. This week-long disconnect has brought new awareness to how ridiculous our ‘always available’ lives have become, including the endless interru

Hazel and her friend Lana had resounding success selling their homemade ‘slime’ at the Vegreville summer market. From perfecting the slime recipe and designing the brand to interacting with customers, pitching the product and balancing the float, the event was packed with fun and learning. Like two seasoned entrepreneurs they converted raw materials of glue, borax, water and food colouring, into dozens of slime filled containers ready to amaze and entertain children and teens

Fifty aircraft flew from around Alberta last weekend for the Vegreville Flying Club’s annual ‘fly-in breakfast’. The weather was perfect for flying, allowing hundreds of people to enjoy an outstanding meal and a plethora of aircraft. It takes hundreds of hours, hard working volunteers, and motivated leaders to make events like this possible. Whether a sports tournament, a fundraiser, or a breakfast, bringing people together to connect and celebrate requires coordination, pla