The winter of 1988 was quite the momentous time. I was about to turn sixteen and was focused, albeit anxiously, on honing my driving skills in order to obtain a coveted driver’s licence. Hormones were wreaking havoc on my body and mind. Girls were a growing distraction, dare I say, obsession. My part time job […]
Slow Mo Reno – Contracting a Sticker Shock
There are two groups of people in Calgary; those that work in the oil industry and those that renovate their homes. Sure, there are thousands of others who work in service industries and the civil service, but in two years’ time when the NDP is obliterated in the provincial election and the “new” conservatives dial […]
Wyndham-Carseland Provincial Park – review
There’s a first time for everything. This is absolutely true except for when it’s not. Forget things I have no intention of doing like, say, seeing how many ball bearings I can stick up a nostril; the dime scare of 1980 was enough nostril adventure for one lifetime, thank you very much. Forget also the […]
Little Bow Provincial Park – Review
Victoria Day. The long weekend with the antiquated name, unless you use the more colloquial May Two-Four, marks the unofficial start to summer for Canadians. There are spring cleaning and summer projects, sure, but more importantly BBQs and camping. Unless, of course, you live in Alberta where we’ve become all too familiar with everything from […]
Crude Awakening
“It builds character.” These words of encouragement, long-favoured by well-intentioned relatives and friends, cycled endlessly in my mind as I sat behind my faux-wood desk in my soon-to-be-former cubicle on the west side of the fourteenth floor of Gulf Canada Square in suddenly not-so-opportunity-filled Calgary. I was numb.