I am just nosey...

One of the best things about my job is meeting new people. This week I ran into an interesting fellow who is a vice-president with RBC Royal Bank in the commercial financial section. His name was Pierre Maltais. Of course, I had to ask him about his family name, which is the same as Terry's family. Turns out his Dad is quite the researcher into the family history. He told me all the Maltais in Canada are tied back to two brothers who came from the Normandy region of France back in the 1600s. He said his branch of the family settled in the Saguenay region of Quebec, where they were mostly employed in the logging business. Interesting eh?

I dress bland ... but more people are doing that now.

I'm a fashion trend setter! Who knew? According to the fashionistas out there, the newest trend in men's fashion is something called Normcore. Apparently it means just plain bland ordinary comfortable clothing. Yup, that's where I am now. Several years ago I had to follow a spiffy dress code and wear suits and ties at work. Not any more. My thing now is clean and plain and comfortable. And yes, I get to wear jeans. I don't worry about that because if I have to go to a special chamber of commerce lunch, I just throw on a blazer. I bought two very ordinary looking cashmere blazers in the past year. One is navy and one is light brown. They're perfect for adding a bit of formality to my everyday casual clothes. The best part is that I dress comfortably. If I have to work in these clothes for 10, 12 or 14 hours a day, I am going to be comfortable!

Grandma's letter to Jennifer

I am very pleased with myself this weekend. I did some housework. Ha Ha. But more than that I found a letter that Grandma Gillis mailed out more than 30 years ago. The letter was addressed to Jennifer. I thought it was lost, but it was in an old photo album. Jenn was just a child at the time and likely had a hard time reading Grandma's handwriting. The important thing is that it was a letter about our family history and how the Gillis family came over from Morar, on the northwest coast of Scotland. Grandma was a teacher at one time and had a great memory for detail. I remember her with great love and fondness. I have made digital copies of the letter and I will transcribe it into text as well. Grandma signed off the letter with this: "Now my hand is getting tired and you may not be able to make out the writing but try to anyway. Give my love to your Mother & everyone. God Bless You. Will write at Christmas. Bye Bye. Your great grandmother."

Hmmm... did you notice she didn't mention me? I thought I was her favourite! LOL

People are getting to be so young!

So here we are in March 2014. This is a bit of a milestone month for me. I will be turning 60. I'm okay with that, but some days I am amazed how young some people are getting. Of course, people don't "get young". It's just that as I go about my day to day work meeting different people in different walks of life, I come upon some very talented and very interesting people ... and they are so YOUNG! It takes everything I have to shake hands with them, instead of giving them a gentle pat on the head, as you might with a child. Well, it's not really like that. But it is how I think sometimes. I ran into one of these people last week, who is so young and fresh-faced you might think he is a teenager. But this fellow is a mining engineer who is in charge of a billion dollar gold mining operation and oversees the jobs of hundreds of people. Sometimes I walk into an office or a building and ask to see the see the boss. Many times I am surprised to find that the "big boss" in these situations is often a young person, younger than my own children. I am confident that I act properly but I sure hope my face or mannerisms don't give anything away. I believe in the idea that in these days of very strict working conditions, you don't get to be the boss unless you have exceedingly good qualifications. That being said, I work in a situation where most of my fellow reporters, colleagues in the news business, are also young. And as expected, they make a lot of rookie mistakes. I don't bother pointing out the mistakes, as I am confident they realize when they have done something wrong. I do however make a point of complimenting them when they do something really well. It sure makes the day go better.