tomleslie.ca

Here are some of the specific things that are important to me:

Singing. Exultate, Consort Caritatis, and, yes, SMM. The joy of cooperative artistry and the release of emotional energy through the voice.
Intellectual challenges and puzzles. A lot of technical challenges at work are strictly left brain which is why I enjoy them. Most games are obviously left brain as well. In the last couple of years, I’ve enjoyed expanding into the right brain area with increased resposibility to figure out and fix interpersonal challenges, and more social multiplayer games.
Pets, specifically my cat Hoover. (I’m looking forward to getting her back; she’s been an unwitting casualty of my travels as a guest at my parents’ and my friend Patrick’s).
Images and sounds. One of the appeals of computer games is the sheer beauty of some of the graphics.
Travel. See images and sounds.
My family. We may not communicate very well, but we definitely love each other.
My friends. Where would I be without you guys?

Not in that order, of course. 🙂

Friday. I’ve been in the office for a luxurious week, with various small events:

Monday I went to see Philip Webb, who seems to be in good form. He’s tireless on the merits of Linux and is trying to convince me to switch from Windows. If only…

Tuesday we had an Exultate board meeting after work, although I arrived late. The board has changed quite a bit since the last time I was able to attend, with Diane and Julia adding their considerable talents to the mix, and with the success of the current fundraising campaign the whole feeling of the meetings has changed from the slight “bridge of the Titanic” sinking feeling to one of cautious optimism. Lots of work to do, of course, but Exultate is steaming into the third decade of its existance with new energy and nary an iceburg. Afterwards, Julia and Kelly and I went to Bar Mercurio and had much wonderful food and wine. You may note a theme in a minute.

After work on Wednesday I went out to dinner at Nami with Dirk, Christine and Kevin (their son). Christine just started working with the company and is trying to adjust to the political environment of her project, hoping she hasn’t made a mistake. Dirk is doing very well creating assets for the B2B service line, and seems to have a whole network of junior managers and senior consultants cranking out materials for him in the office. Kevin, 2, enjoys tuna sushi. I had Nami’s famous sushi pizza (which is roe, salmon and thin greens on a baked ricecake base) and it was highly delectable.

Thursday night we had a belated farewell party for Colin Lindsell, which migrated (eventually) from the Duke of Westminster to Rodney’s. TJ and Dirk are clearly regulars, as we were treated like royalty by the staff, who brought massive quantities of fabulous seafood and a big bucket of wine bottles to the table. We staggered out of the place quite a few hours later and my head didn’t feel to great this morning.

I should definitely have weeks at home more often!

My schedule for the next little while:

Seattle on Sunday until Thursday.
Participating in an info session at the University of Guelph next Friday to start getting “Accenture” in front of our prospective employees.
Possibly staying in Guelph for the weekend of having my parents come back in to Toronto.
Likely another week in the Toronto office through Feb 2nd.
Spend the weekend at the Snyman’s cottage, trying not to let Dirk kill me with his snowmobile.
Training in Colorado Springs from Feb 6th to 9th (by which time I have to have finished the 7 Habits book, see rant below).
Training in Toronto on presentations on Monday the 12th, then back to Seattle.
Whistler weekend February 17th-18th…
etc.

I have to get more sleep; this schedule may kill me.

Monday morning, and I’m at work in the Toronto office. This is extremely unusual for me for a Monday, now. This is the first Monday that I haven’t been on the road since last March… which is pretty ridiculous.

I had a fun weekend but a tiring one. My new computer arrived last Friday and most of the weekend was spent setting it up and gaming with a few friends. The game of the moment is Counterstrike, which has actually been big for quite a while but is still pretty new for me. If you’ve got Half-Life, you’re all set; the Counterstrike add-on is free at their web site.

Dell did a good job of getting my machine configured, built and shipped. The only mistake they made was sending me the wrong speakers, and when I called them Friday afternoon to point this out they were quick to fix the problem. Purolator had the right ones to my door this morning, so now I am in quadrophonic heaven. Or will be when I get through the speakers’ 30 page manual and figure out the remote control… (!?!)

As my friend Dirk commented when I told him about the new machine, this is all clearly more evidence that I need to start dating again.

Just added a new page to log the progress of setting up this site. Trials, tribulations and lessons learned will be included. Enjoy…

“Such is human psychology that if we don’t express our joy, we soon cease to feel it.” – Lin Yutang

I’m in Seattle and for a few brief days do not have to wade through snowdrifts or slush puddles. Toronto’s winter weather is one of the things Torontonians pretend to ignore. We conveniently forget about the lakes of dirty water that form on our corners and are sprayed across unfortunate pedestrians by speeding SUV’s. We choose not to remember the bitter winds that blow through the office tower canyons and chill us to the bone. Instead, people like me who work in the downtown core ramble on about the virtues of the PATH system and its victory over blizzards and squalls. Friends from the suburbs have long learned to drive carefully on snow, and since the brave souls of the city road crews work around the clock while the white stuff is falling, the streets are usually cleared, salted and navigable.

So it’s a bit of a shock to the system to get off the airplane and suddenly not have to pretend that the ground isn’t covered in ice. Gloomy clouds and rain showers Seattle may have, but walking around is fundamentally easier here than it is in Toronto at the moment. So for the next three days until I return home, I’m going walking.