Well, am attending a symposium in Vaudreuil, just outside Montreal right now. The location is really nice, with my room overlooking a lake, but the conference sucks! If I had known it would be this terrible, I would have stayed in LA! Incidentally, am writing this as the last few talks are going on...I skipped out early...that, perhaps, angered the gods...so they rained on me:P
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Flew in late last night...no gps in rental car...had to take 3 highways to get to hotel, but got here in one piece! Am driving to Ottawa on Saturday, hope Google maps (and my ma fan navigator) are good:P
It was kinda interesting...I normally don't talk to ppl when I am on the shuttle or on the plane, as it would ruin my reputation!:P But as I was picked up from work during morning rush hour, the trip to LAX took a bit longer than usual...in the meantime, had an entertaining conversation with a guy about drifting (apparently they have competitions in the LA area)...why V-8, rear wheel drive Impalas from the early 90's were the best police cars (as the guy used to work for GM)...and more importantly, why I should test-drive a Cadillac CTS-V (as it has a Corvette engine in it, with similar brakes, etc.). Haha! Actually, I quite enjoyed it! Maybe it's a guy thing...or maybe it was a nice brake (er, break...excuse the pun!:P) from the things I usually think of!
On the plane, I was seated next to a guy who, on paper, seemed like one of the usual ppl who went to LA to strike it rich. He was originally from Montreal...moved to LA...he has a band...ended up working as a software tester, repo man (some pretty cool stories!), light bulb and fixture changer (he developed a system to maximize his efficiency), tow truck driver, auto mechanic, etc. Seems like the typical story of someone who didn't make it, eh? Well, he did all these to put his gf (and later, wife) through physiotherapy school at USC! He, himself, never went to university...but would like to go one day...he simply made some choices...to support his wife...and to pursue what he loved...but to be honest, he's one of the smartest ppl I have met in a long time! Street smart, definitely...but from some of his stories, he clearly had something between his ears. I explained the physiological basis of an electrocardiographic wave to him (more on that later!)...he had a better grasp of it than most ppl would...b/c he understood the principles behind electrical conduction...from his various jobs, from his wife...he understood the ideas behind positive and negative displacement within the waveform...and it certainly wasn't due to my ability to teach:)
The sad part...and the reason we ended up talking...he saw what I was reading...and it turns out the only reason he was heading home was that his younger brother's 1.5 month old son had a heart issue (it sounded like a conduction defect...he had found out the night before, drove up to LA that morning and was on stand-by)...that the little boy had had a recent episode where his heart stopped (and was defibrillated). Now, doctors are recommending a heart transplant. He was equal parts nervous (to see his family under such circumstances) and a bit angry (as he felt that it was unfair that such a thing could happen to someone so small and innocent).
But in a way, it made the 5 hr flight seem much shorter...we talked about hockey...he grew up in Quebec, so he followed both the Habs and the Nordiques...and I am a Canucks fan (and I used to cheer for the Nordiques b/c they were always huge underdogs...Ron Tugnutt's 70-save performance against Boston stands out!)...how to set up a entertainment system in our house...the best hole-in-the-wall places to go in Montreal...family...yada, yada, yada!
It showed me something...I know I am guilty of this...I sometimes judge ppl too quickly...and sometimes, ppl will surprise you...IF you give them a chance!
Off to take a nap! ;-)
It was kinda interesting...I normally don't talk to ppl when I am on the shuttle or on the plane, as it would ruin my reputation!:P But as I was picked up from work during morning rush hour, the trip to LAX took a bit longer than usual...in the meantime, had an entertaining conversation with a guy about drifting (apparently they have competitions in the LA area)...why V-8, rear wheel drive Impalas from the early 90's were the best police cars (as the guy used to work for GM)...and more importantly, why I should test-drive a Cadillac CTS-V (as it has a Corvette engine in it, with similar brakes, etc.). Haha! Actually, I quite enjoyed it! Maybe it's a guy thing...or maybe it was a nice brake (er, break...excuse the pun!:P) from the things I usually think of!
On the plane, I was seated next to a guy who, on paper, seemed like one of the usual ppl who went to LA to strike it rich. He was originally from Montreal...moved to LA...he has a band...ended up working as a software tester, repo man (some pretty cool stories!), light bulb and fixture changer (he developed a system to maximize his efficiency), tow truck driver, auto mechanic, etc. Seems like the typical story of someone who didn't make it, eh? Well, he did all these to put his gf (and later, wife) through physiotherapy school at USC! He, himself, never went to university...but would like to go one day...he simply made some choices...to support his wife...and to pursue what he loved...but to be honest, he's one of the smartest ppl I have met in a long time! Street smart, definitely...but from some of his stories, he clearly had something between his ears. I explained the physiological basis of an electrocardiographic wave to him (more on that later!)...he had a better grasp of it than most ppl would...b/c he understood the principles behind electrical conduction...from his various jobs, from his wife...he understood the ideas behind positive and negative displacement within the waveform...and it certainly wasn't due to my ability to teach:)
The sad part...and the reason we ended up talking...he saw what I was reading...and it turns out the only reason he was heading home was that his younger brother's 1.5 month old son had a heart issue (it sounded like a conduction defect...he had found out the night before, drove up to LA that morning and was on stand-by)...that the little boy had had a recent episode where his heart stopped (and was defibrillated). Now, doctors are recommending a heart transplant. He was equal parts nervous (to see his family under such circumstances) and a bit angry (as he felt that it was unfair that such a thing could happen to someone so small and innocent).
But in a way, it made the 5 hr flight seem much shorter...we talked about hockey...he grew up in Quebec, so he followed both the Habs and the Nordiques...and I am a Canucks fan (and I used to cheer for the Nordiques b/c they were always huge underdogs...Ron Tugnutt's 70-save performance against Boston stands out!)...how to set up a entertainment system in our house...the best hole-in-the-wall places to go in Montreal...family...yada, yada, yada!
It showed me something...I know I am guilty of this...I sometimes judge ppl too quickly...and sometimes, ppl will surprise you...IF you give them a chance!
Off to take a nap! ;-)
