Entries 40

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Middle of May and I’ve been home from Taiwan now for about 2 and a half weeks. Already my other life is a faded memory. I feel living half my life there and half my life here that I am a set of ...

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Living in a small town, I become attune to the rhythm of life. I’m out on the porch as the sun comes up and I hear my neighbours all about 7:30. The ones on the right come back from their morni...

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I try for honesty and relatability. I probe by giving examples and then asking related questions. I’m easy to talk to and like to connect with other people. That’s how I ended up talking to a gu...

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I was thinking how little things send our lives in different directions. And how a 1% change in direction can, over time lead us to a much different place. I was thinking this in relation to Don...

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In Canada, I sleep so well. So deep. I tell myself that I am recuperating from my overactive lifestyle in Taiwan. Maybe there is some truth in that. I certainly have a much more comfortable life...

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I had a couple of glasses of wine when I was barbecuing the chicken breasts. And then a couple more afterwards. I almost never have more than two drinks anymore. But sometimes I let myself overi...

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I’m back in Canada, and honestly, I’m sleeping better here than I did in Taiwan.
 Weird, right? In Taiwan, I was exercising like crazy — knocking myself out every day — but somehow, Canada’s g...

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Yesterday I sat on the front porch for a few hours late in the afternoon. I watched my neighbours up the street working on their front garden. It looks nice. Much nicer than a decade ago when th...

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Yesterday I forgot what day it was. It could have been Friday. It could have been August 2, 1945. Life is hard for a time traveler. And it is hard to stay grounded as a retired sea captain. I ...

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I was at the dentist yesterday. I had my six month check up and cleaning. The hygienist, who was new to me, is male, fairly young and an interesting conversationalist. He told me things that I n...

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I had a dream. I was still working at the Guelph Mercury. I wasn’t part of the sales team. I was a junior reporter, so junior that I also helped with production. We had morning meetings in a dam...

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I think I slept 18 or 20 hours yesterday. And today I feel like I am on track, back to self, back to normal. It’s been rough. Coming home is always a little jarring. a 12 hour time change, not t...

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Honestly the air quality never bothers me in Taiwan. It’s probably because I am used to it. I would rather have 30 degrees and poor air quality like I had when I left than what I came back to -...

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While I was in Asia, a friend of the family had a baby. A boy. Cute baby. I’ve known her parents since Taichung days and our children grew up together. I was the MC at her wedding a couple of ...

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Q: What’s a very Canadian thing to do on your first full day back in Canada? A: Go to Costco! So I went and got all my favourite things, spent a ton of money on meat mostly. It is weird and n...

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Tomorrow is the day I leave Taiwan. I have a bunch of stuff to do today. A second deep cleaning of the apartment. Packing. Actually, that’s about it. I want to go out to my favourite noodle r...

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Vonnegut once said “I admire anybody who finishes a work of art, no matter how awful it may be.” He’d be proud of me today, awfully proud. I did what I said I would do. I stayed in and listene...

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On my walk along the river this morning, I saw a guy that I stop to chat with when I see him. He’s an expat from Ohio, living here in Taiwan now for about 7 or 8 years. Like most people I know...

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I’d like to write everyday. I think it is a good habit, a gift you give to yourself. And a gift that keeps on giving. It is so great to look back at the person you once were. And writing is a p...

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The algorithm was great. The year was 2017. YouTube got good again. It was good at the very beginning. I was there. I remember Boh3m3 and Lonely Girl. I was there before Google bought it. It...

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I’m afraid my American friends are starting to not like me. It’s my own fault. I have the rest of the world on my side, which is one of the reasons I don’t mind talking about Trump and the Repu...

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To be idle and aimless without getting bored is true contentment. Since I retired and since I’ve been living alone in Taiwan for most of the past six months I’ve found a real acceptance of slo...

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When I worked as a real estate agent, I used to flip through the local glossy real estate magazines and marvel at the random ugliness of my colleagues. I’m not bragging. I’m not the best looking...

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I don’t mean to be a shit disturber, but Canada would be a better home for Greenland than the USA. We have a lot more in common with Greenland than the US does. I’m not just talking about univer...

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Somethings, like cranberry sauce at a thanksgiving turkey dinner, are best to just ignore. The news and entertainment coming out of the White House is another. It’s Reality TV. Something I’ve ne...

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