No Magic Here

That’s why they call it “beta”

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Bernard) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:13:00 +0000

You know it’s going to be a bad day when…

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Bernard) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:47:00 +0000

You’re debugging heap corruption, and this is the most informative message:

This week in junior curling

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Bernard) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:45:00 +0000

We had three Canadian curling champions as guest coaches this week. Hilary McDermott, Laura Hickey and Danielle Inglis dropped by to run some drills with the kids and show us some of the things they do when practicing.

The kids, especially the girls, were awestruck. Many of them were eyeing the Team Canada jackets with envy, hoping no doubt to be sporting one of those themselves someday.

Technorati Tags: Curling

Dear nVidia

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Bernard) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:51:00 +0000

Please make a video driver that doesn’t blue screen on me once a week.

The Purina Diet

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Bernard) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 18:06:00 +0000

I was in the grocery store the other day, buying a bag of dog food. While I was waiting in line at the checkout, the woman behind me asked me what kind of dog I had.

I said, "I don't have a dog. I'm on the Purina Diet. It's great. The last time I was on it, I lost 50 pounds."

She asked me how it worked.

I said, "It's easy. You fill your pockets with kibble and throughout the day you crunch on it whenever you're hungry."

She was amazed, and asked, "are there any problems with eating that much dog food?"

I had to admit that I ended up in the hospital, in intensive care with tubes coming out all over the place, and IVs in both arms.

Horrified, she asked why I ended up in the hospital. Had the Purina made me sick?

I said, "No, I was sitting in the middle of the street, licking my balls, when a car ran me over."

Ontario Provincial Park Reviews

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Bernard) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:09:00 +0000

I'm a big fan of Ontario's Provincial Parks. Our family started camping in 2005, when we rented two different models of tent trailer to try out the camping scene.

As a kid, I camped quite a bit. Almost always in a tent. Sometimes travelling by canoe. My wife and I camped a few times in a tent together, and after narrowly escaping a tornado one time, we decided that tenting was for the braver of heart.

So, with our four-year-old and one-year-old, we headed up North in a rented tent trailer, twice, and loved it. The following year, we bought a Rockwood Roo 19. Best purchase we've ever made.

Since then, we've tried to get out at least three full weeks every summer, plus a spring trip (almost always Father's Day weekend) and a fall trip (Labour Day). We've even been as far East as the Atlantic Ocean, on a trip through New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.

We've stayed in some of Canada's National Parks, and one "family camping" park, but our favourite parks, by far, are the Ontario Parks system of Provincial Parks. They have everything - sandy beaches, warm water, wildlife, quiet trails, still lakes, and educational programs for kids and adults.

I'll keep this page up to date as we cover more parks.

Algonquin

August 2008 (Pog Lake)

August 2005 (Canisbay Lake)

Arrowhead

July 2009

July 2006

Awenda

June 2006

Charleston Lake

August 2006

Fundy National Park, New Brunswick

August 2007

Grundy Lake

July 2008

Halfway Lake

July 2009

Inverhuron

September 2009

June 2008

May 2006

Killbear

August 2006

Long Point

September 2008

September 2007

MacGregor Point

June 2009

July 2008

June 2007

Mikisew

July 2007

Prince Edward Island National Park, PEI

August 2007

Pinery

September 2006

Presqu'ile

August 2008

Restoule

July 2005

Samuel de Champlain

August 2009

South Mountain Park Campground, Nova Scotia

August 2007

Technorati Tags: Ontario Provincial Parks,Camping

Six!

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Bernard) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 20:43:00 +0000

Happy birthday Fiona!

From Inverhuron

From Samuel de Champlain

You may feel a little sick

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Bernard) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 18:05:00 +0000

~~Swine~~ H1N1 flu season is in full swing. My wife has avoided the whole, “do I get the shot or not” debate by getting the flu instead.

Make up your own mind about getting the shot, but all I can tell you is, being hit by a truck and getting this flu are very similar.

Technorati Tags: H1N1

From bad to worse

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Bernard) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 13:13:00 +0000

I used to think the London Free Press was the worst newspaper I had ever read.

Then, yesterday, I had the chance to flip through the Hamilton Spectator.

The difference between men, women and dogs

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Bernard) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 13:11:00 +0000

This is the funniest, and truest thing I will read this week.

Bumper sticker of the day

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Bernard) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 12:16:00 +0000

“Some days, all I want to be is a missing person.”

Rick Mercer Report

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Bernard) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 23:41:00 +0000

Friday night was awesome. We beat it down the 401 to Toronto, to catch the taping of this week's Rick Mercer Report.

Rick was in fine form, with an excellent rant on the Swine Flu. Best line of the night was to the audience - "like I'm going to see any flu vaccine. I live in a riding held by the NDP. You need to go to a Conservative riding - you get three doses of vaccine and a big cardboard cheque for $5000."

Until we sleep

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Bernard) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:51:00 +0000

Work, though the work will break your back
Rest, hope to feel your spirits rise
But the years, have cut you down to size
Now go to sleep

The other night the dog was up at 5:30am, wanting to wander around the back yard. I couldn’t get back to sleep.

The next night, the five-year-old was up at 5:00am, wanting a drink of water. I couldn’t get back to sleep.

Last night, the five-year-old was up at 3:00am, wanting a drink of water. I did get back to sleep. Until the dog had a seizure at 5:15am…

I may need to visit Mr. Horton’s this afternoon.

What’s wrong with this picture?

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Bernard) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:28:00 +0000

You’re gonna need a whole lot of piano playing to hide this one.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/conservativecheques

Fall fail

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Bernard) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 15:11:00 +0000

I am the eye in the sky

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Bernard) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 18:50:00 +0000

The Google’s street view car came to town recently. They didn't make it up the highway to my neck of the woods, but it looks like they did cover Waterloo nicely.

They even caught their own office in action.

Technorati Tags: Google

Things they should teach in MBA school

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Bernard) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 17:12:00 +0000

Jim Estill points us to this nugget, which nicely highlights how important passion and creativity are for fostering innovation.

If your organization recognizes that this is the direction you should be moving, but aren’t, you have run into one of the biggest challenges.

It’s all well and good to say that you value innovation, but if that’s the case, you need to throw some more weight behind passion and creativity, and less behind obedience and diligence.

"So the goal is how do you create a company that can innovate and change? Seek creative destruction. Bottom line - EVERYONE in the company needs to be creative and innovate. How do we unleash the creative potential of everyone?"

Technorati Tags: Management

That time of year again

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Bernard) — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 14:11:00 +0000

There was a frost warning last night.

I’ve put the ice scrapers in the cars.

The snow blower is getting excited about its annual oil change.

These can only be signs of one thing. Curling season is starting.

I spent about an hour on the ice last night, stretching muscles back into shape and trying to stay on my feet. I actually don’t feel too sore today. We’ll see how my arms feel next week, when the first rocks are thrown in anger.

The pace of change

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Bernard) — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 13:37:00 +0000

We’re doing the Run for the Cure again this year. I picked up the kit with the T-shirts, etc. in it yesterday. In the bottom of the bag were four pink buttons, with the breast cancer ribbon graphic, and the foundation website.

As I was pinning the button on my five-year-old, she looked at it and said, “Oh, cool, we can go to the website sometime.”

She’s five years old, and instantly recognizes what www.cbcf.org means. When I was five years old, state of the art was Pong.

Why I use Firefox, reason #37

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Bernard) — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 16:45:00 +0000

It doesn’t display the Microsoft home page like Internet Explorer does…

The wisdom of seven-year-old boys

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Bernard) — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 13:33:00 +0000

I was at the fancy new pool last night, watching my daughter’s swimming lesson, when I heard a commotion behind me.

I turned around and saw two boys, probably seven or eight years old. The first one looked like he was lining up a field goal, and then took a running kick at the second one, catching him full-on in the nuts.

The second kid doubled over, gasping, and after a minute or so, he struggled to his feet. Then he took a running kick at the first kid, catching him full-on in the grapes.

The crazy thing is, they kept doing this. For about five minutes. I don’t know if it was some sort of contest, or what, but each kid took several hard kicks in the onions.

No wonder I’m so happy I have two girls…

Conversation of the day

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Bernard) — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 20:03:00 +0000

Rocky: SHUT UP!

Bugs Bunny: Shut u-up? Why certainly! You don't think I'm the type that would keep on blabbin'? Some people never know when to stop. When I'm told to shut up, I shut up...

Rocky: [sticks gun in Bugs's face] Shut UP shut-in' up!

Things they teach in MBA school

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Bernard) — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 13:04:00 +0000

You can never spend enough time on an organizational chart. Clearly defined lines of responsibility, all the way up the organizational tree, are a must. Good reporting structures have won wars, you know. There's no sense planning and designing products if you don't know who to report to.

Just think, without a rock-solid process, what could we accomplish? There would be nothing to hold us back.

Technorati Tags: Management,Humour

Headline of the year

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Bernard) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 16:00:00 +0000

This has my vote as the blog post headline of the year.

Helena Guergis: Blowing a little dope of her own.

2011 Brier

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Bernard) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 12:27:00 +0000

Now that summer is finally here, as we enter our 18th or 19th day without rain, and without rain in the forecast for the next few days, it’s time to get back to curling.

The ice plant should be up and running now, and the icemakers will have fixed all the leaky pipes. Two weeks tonight I’ll be stretching some muscles that have been unused for the summer, and taking the first shaky slides of the season.

The best news I’ve heard on the curling front this summer will actually be officially announced tomorrow - the 2011 Brier will be just down the road in London. See you there!

Technorati Tags: Curling