2 + 2 = ?

So I do not profess to be some kind of mathematical genius. I do admit to using a calculator often. But there are still the basics.

Tonight I stopped off at the local Canadian Tire. I had to pick up a few bits and pieces. $3.36 worth. As I sifted through my pocket, the young lady at the till figured I had exact change, and hit the button. But I tricked her, I didn't have the change. So in an effort to keep those around me on my toes, I gave the cashier $4.00.

Now some people are quick with numbers, and would look at it, then hand over the $0.64 in change. I may opt to cheat, and count out 4 pennies, a dime, and two quarters. But this young lady had me beat. She voided the transaction, and re-entered the whole thing in, this time entering in the $4.00 I gave her, so the computer could give her the change. No, this isn't one of the tills that spits out the change automatically. The cashiers still need to do that manually.

What a let down.

The tables have turned

About 12 years ago, I was finishing my time at SAIT. I had spent the previous two years learning all I could about how to maintain aircraft, and I was ready to take on the world. To save mankind, one helicopter at a time. All I needed was a job. The graduating classes before me were still struggling to find work. Those of us without jobs, were getting nervous. Thankfully, the aviation industry was on it's way out of recession, and most of found our way in.

Now, like many jobs, aviation has a way of eating at your soul. The industry is built up in such a way, that it takes advantage of the fact that most of it's employees have been dreaming of doing this work since they were old enough to look up. Ask any 1st grade class how many want to be pilots? Ask how many want to be plumbers? I bet you don't get the same number. Needless to say, it lacks the glamour that the full colour brochures would lead you to believe is true. The long hours, miserable mud holes, remote locations, and a stream of constant "Challenges" that seemed like so much fun when you start out, become nothing more than long hours, miserable mud holes, remote locations, and a stream of pains in the ass.

Fast forward from 12 years ago where this story started to last week. I was sent on a mission to find some new apprentices. Some new, keen, fresh, souls that are just ripe for the picking. Some young folks who are still caught up in the glory of the the full colour brochure.

So I meet the 2006 Graduating class of the AMT program at SAIT. Funny enough, they reminded me of the 1994 graduating class. Lucky for them, the job market is teaming with chances for these graduates to strike out into the world, and leave their mark. I talked with kids that have gone straight from high school, to college. I talked to grown men that had worked in the airforce in their home country's before moving to Canada, and have had to start from scratch, just to keep working in the industry that they love. And to these people, I represented the goal of the last few years of work. A chance for them to take on the world, and to save mankind, one helicopter at a time.

I need to admit, it was good for me. Spend to much time around a bunch of crusty old engineers, and it's bound to rub off. Likewise, spending some time around some keen young apprentices can be up-lifing. That being said, I wouldn't want to go though it all again. Once was enough.

It was good to be on the other side of the table. Offering jobs, not looking for one.

What so many people were thinking

One Senator had the bravado to get up and say. Senator Céline Hervieux-Payette has responded to a letter sent to Canadian Senators, from an American family, asking Canada to stop the seal hunt. Nobody else would say anything, but Celine. Good for her. And, no, she did not say she was going to stop the hunt.

Instead, she pointed out to the well wishing McLelland family, that perhaps they would better spend their energy looking into the missgivings of their own government. The Senator mentioned some things such as the killing of inmates in American prisons, (the majority of whom are black) and the deaths of people all over the world by the American War against Terror.

Sure, the Canadian government has some seal blood on it's hands. I'm not even going to touch this one. But one family not wanting to come to Canada because we killed a few seals? Compare that to the number of dead Iraqis?

It's good that this family cared enough to do something. I'm sure they weren't even expecting a response. But please, to the McLelland Family, send your letters to Mr Bush. Tell him to keep his oil wells out of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Tell him to start checking emmisions levels on SUVs. Tell him to live up to the agreements set out in Kyoto. Otherwise Mr Bush will be killing off an even greater number of seals when they don't have ice flows to live on because they melted. And what about the polar bears? Well, they won't be doing so well, because they can't get to the seals.

Funny how it's never so black and white.

Bill Gates fortune

Sophos hoax description: Bill Gates fortune

You've all seen the e-mail. No doubt that somebody has sent it to you at some point. The one that says if you forward it, Bill Gates and Microsoft will send you cash. Lots of cash. One version of this e-mail states you will make easily make over $10,000 US. Okay. Sure. We are all smart people here. Let's do the math.

According to Statistics Canada, in 2003, 64% of households have internet access. In 2001, there were 8,371,020 family households. Now, I know that most homes have more than one user of the internet, and several email address, but for this exercise, I'm going to say that it is just one e-mail per household. That would mean 5,357,453 email users. Remember, this is only based on personal accounts, not business.

So, now let's assume that only 50% of the people get the e-mail. That's 2,678,726 victims of the forward button. I realize the e-mail said that you will get $10,000, but I'm going to bet on the safe side, and say that you only get a cheque for $5,000. Still better than a kick in the ass with a frozen mukluk. That would mean, that the geek who became king, would need to shell out $13,393,630,000. And that's only to Canadians. I know that Bill Gates is not eating Kraft Dinner because he needs to, but I think that $13.4 billion is even a stretch for him.

Now having thought of it that way, don't you think that maybe an email saying you are going to get rich simply from clicking forward is a little too good to be true? Not to mention the privacy issue if Microsoft could track your e-mail use like that? I know email can be tracked, and contains more data than one may first assume, but I don't think that it is to the level that this hoax would have you believe. And I'm sure, that everyone would say "Oh, I'd never fall for that one." So why then, does this e-mail still appear in the top 10 list for hoaxes going around?

Please, Forward responsibly.

How did that go again?

The last few weeks have been a roller coaster, and it doesn't look like the ride is anywhere near finished. I've just returned from the resort town of Rainbow Lake Alberta. Even though my mission was to pass on some wisdom to the new folk, and just generally check up on things, I found myself going back into the old ways. Back to a time before I had a desk. It felt good to get my hands dirty, however I noticed that the leather I used to have for skin has softened up a bit, and I had to think about some of the things my fingers used to do on their own. But even at -15, it felt good to be outside, beside a stinky, loud, dirty helicopter.

I love the smell of turbine exhaust in the winter. I know it's so loaded full of toxic fumes, that it's likely taken a fair amount of time off my life, but what the hell. I was never cool enough to take up smoking, I need to make up for it some how.

I guess it's a natural thing. As we get older, and paddle our canoes further down the river, we take on new challenges and responsibilities. Often, these are based on the skills we have built upon, or the basics. I think the trick with all this, is to not forget the basics. Go back, revisit them, improve upon them. You may find that you have forgotten some very fundamental things. Simple things. Like: Why?

Besides, it gives me a good excuse to get out of the office.

So it's back to the lego bricks for me.