Just a Gwai Lo

As a streak of 561 days in a row of playing Ingress comes to an end, I’ve decided to quit.

As a streak of 561 days in a row of playing Ingress comes to an end, I’ve decided to quit.

A summary of my trip to Gravenhurst, Ontario on July 15th, 2016.

A summary of my trip to Gravenhurst, Ontario on July 15th, 2016.

Today was my first Bike Share Toronto commute, and I made as many blunders as possible. I added a few extra minutes by figuring out how to take a bike out, walking (not biking) from King to Adelaide, dodging trucks parked in the bike lane while properly crossing old streetcar tracks, turning into a one-way street, and getting turned around at least once, maybe twice. Next time I'm just going to turn right onto Church.

Today was my first Bike Share Toronto commute, and I made as many blunders as possible. I added a few extra minutes by figuring out how to take a bike out, walking (not biking) from King to Adelaide, dodging trucks parked in the bike lane while properly crossing old streetcar tracks, turning into a one-way street, and getting turned around at least once, maybe twice. Next time I'm just going to turn right onto Church.

I'm not a big comics guy, but I did read Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art by Scott McCloud just recently, so I'm determined to get a glimpse of the medium. This'll be a start.

My excellent haul from Free Comic Book Day, from Hairy Tarantula and Silver Snail Comics (both on Yonge), plus a cameo by the ad for the photo gallery opening I attended later in the day. I saw Captain America: Civil War the other day, and have a lot of blanks to fill in as a result of that. I'm not a big comics guy, but I did read Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art by Scott McCloud just recently, so I'm determined to get a glimpse of the medium. This'll be a start.

I met Douglas Coupland! I had known for a while about his project to 3D scan and print each and every Canadian (minus those who couldn't make it to their local branch of a Quebec-based fashion retailer) for an installation he will later make. I was finally able to do it this weekend. I know one of his collaborators, John Biehler, so it occurred to them to scan me both wearing the Blue Jays cap I showed up in and one without. Everybody who gets scanned will get a copy of themselves, and, lucky me, I get two.

I met Douglas Coupland! I had known for a while about his project to 3D scan and print each and every Canadian (minus those who couldn't make it to their local branch of a Quebec-based fashion retailer) for an installation he will later make. I was finally able to do it this weekend. I know one of his collaborators, John Biehler, so it occurred to them to scan me both wearing the Blue Jays cap I showed up in and one without. Everybody who gets scanned will get a copy of themselves, and, lucky me, I get two.

At 5:06 PM I saw a tweet by Drake (the rapper) that he was doing…something at 5 PM at 567 Queen St. West.

At 5:06 PM I saw a tweet by Drake (the rapper) that he was doing…something at 5 PM at 567 Queen St. West.

I read 20 books in 2015.

Learning my lesson from last year, I cut down my book reading goal to 20 books from 25. Thanks to several flights during my trip to Europe, and an inspired purchase of a Kindle during Amazon’s Prime Day (which I hilariously almost lost at the airport), I was able to surpass my goal. Read more about My 2015 in Books

The Couch-to-5k program got me started running, which carved out time to listen to podcasts, and inspired by the runners in my Twitter timeline I ran my first 5k race, the 2014 Scotiabank a year ago this weekend. For the 2015 event, I set two goals for the same race: run a personal best 1 kilometre over the course of the race, and run a best overall for a 5k. I achieved both, and would have done even better if it weren't for a heatwave.

The Couch-to-5k program got me started running, which carved out time to listen to podcasts, and inspired by the runners in my Twitter timeline I ran my first 5k race, the 2014 Scotiabank a year ago this weekend. For the 2015 event, I set two goals for the same race: run a personal best 1 kilometre over the course of the race, and run a best overall for a 5k. I achieved both, and would have done even better if it weren't for a heatwave. Read more about A Year of Races

First in a series on customer care as seen through the eyes of someone who’s done support but is a frequent consumer of support as well.

First in a series on customer care as seen through the eyes of someone who’s done support but is a frequent consumer of support as well. Read more about Customer Care Experiences from the Other Side: Company A

My desire as a power user to get what I want from software is always tempered by my days in the early 2000s as an Internet trainer, the mid-2000s doing customer support at Bryght (the Drupal-powered hosted service, not the online furniture retailer), and, maybe to a lesser extent doing client work in the early 2010s at OpenRoad and Chapter Three. Those experiences gave me insight into the possibilities and limitations software companies face in delivering customer and client happiness. Read more about Series Introduction: Customer Care Experiences from the Other Side

Read more about I Can't Wait to Eat That VR Headset!