First thing this morning I went to the kitchen and prepared the coffee maker to make my morning coffee. Then I went to the office and read my French Bible for morning devotions. I could hear the coffee gurgling into the mug as I read, but when I went to get my coffee I saw … Continue reading April’s fool
technology
Setting education free from the bureaucracy
It was the practice at one time to teach swimming by getting the learner to lie belly down on a footstool and practice moving his hands and feet in the way that would propel him through the water. That’s not done anymore, for the simple and obvious reason that it really didn’t work. After making … Continue reading Setting education free from the bureaucracy
Safety systems that make life dangerous
Last month a semi hauling aviation fuel was travelling down the A-40 expressway in Montréal. The truck was equipped with a state of the art safety system that was designed to bring the truck to a safe stop if it detected any sign of a leak from a load of fuel. I'm not sure exactly … Continue reading Safety systems that make life dangerous
Dumb spam emails
Spam emails show up in my inbox every day, despite the increasing sophistication of spam filtering done by ISP's. These emails tell me that my account at such and such a bank has been frozen and I need to click on the link provided to resolve this issue. In almost all cases I don't have … Continue reading Dumb spam emails
Lament for the incandescent light bulb
I’m having second thoughts about “environmentally friendly” light bulbs that produce little heat. I live in Saskatchewan and that heat was not a wasteful byproduct. On Christmas day this year the sun rose at 9:15 AM, set at 5:00 PM and the high for the day was -26° Celsius. We are saving energy on our … Continue reading Lament for the incandescent light bulb
Suspicions of Suppression
Some years ago, a backyard mechanic on the Canadian prairies designed and built a carburetor that got fantastic gas mileage with no sacrifice of performance. He drove a car equipped with this carburetor from Winnipeg to Vancouver, averaging 130 miles per gallon for the trip (or 107 miles per US gallon). Or did he drive … Continue reading Suspicions of Suppression
How Thomas Edison invented himself out of a job
Thomas Edison was almost a Canadian. The Edison family originally lived in New Jersey but came to Nova Scotia, Canada as United Empire Loyalists at the time of the American Revolution. A later generation moved to Vienna, Ontario and were involved in the War of 1812 in defending Canada against attempted invasions from the USA. … Continue reading How Thomas Edison invented himself out of a job
What is this world coming to?
In the home where I grew up there was a marvellous old gramophone and a hundred or more cylinders with recorded music. The gramophone consisted of a well crafted wooden case with a crank on the side that provided the power to turn a spindle under the lid. To play, I would first wind it … Continue reading What is this world coming to?
Three score and ten
We spend our years as a tale that is told. The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away. So teach us to number our days, that … Continue reading Three score and ten
Prophetic words from Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
(Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn, whose writings revealed the sordid underside of the communist system, was expelled from the USSR in 1974. In June, 1978 he was asked to give the commencement address at Harvard University. I don't know what they expected to hear, but here are some excerpts from what they did hear.) Harvard’s motto is … Continue reading Prophetic words from Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Flatlander Faith 