Please, google, may I work for you? Thank you

Charming May Ashworth and her grandson Ben are basking in the glow of internet stardom this week, for Nan's polite google query,

Time magazine noted this viral news, and google UK was tickled pink. Here's their warm reply.

Which got me to thinking today, in my fourth month of unemployment, that it might not hurt to cast my sights wider. If I asked politely, might my application float it's way past thousands, and get google's attention?

Not that I'm beneath casting my net lower. The morning paper route is invigorating.

Casting higher again, google is a great place to dream for. What I would bring to google, I believe, is my ability to understand large systems and how they interact. I find new connections that leads to unique solutions. These may be buzzwords to some, but this is honestly how I put things together. I see a great shift in society in the next thirty years or so, and sharp companies will ride the wave of change.

This is why I think the change is inescapable:

World Population Trend

• World population will peak
• Our consumer economy is dependent on a steadily growing population 

How can an economy continue to prosper in the face of an aging or declining population? The consumer based model must be replaced with something else. I believe an efficiency based economic model would be ideal. Since we are dealing with fixed resources and a fixed population, the only way to get more with less is to get smarter about it. Our current throwaway generation will fade in to an annotation in history.

Our society has experienced great leaps in efficiency before with such innovations as crop rotation, mass production, and the Green revolution (fertilizer and improved seed).

Here's two leaps I've been pondering. I've got more ideas but I'll hang on to them for now.

1. Global automated job matching
2. Car for life

Automated Job Matching

Regional unemployment and shortage of skilled workers leads to missed potential. Efficient matching of worker to opportunity - globally - would increase world efficiency (prosperity) many times over. Search engines/algorithms are becoming increasingly skilled at reading our tastes and interests. But this potential has been barely utilized by either employer or employee. 

Advertising, interviewing, and selection is slow, and there is uncertainty whether the best matches are selected. Many great matches are missed simply because the selection process is so cumbersome, and the filtering process brutal. 

I think cooperation of some of our great search engines with the top employment sites would be a great first step to make job matching so much more efficient. 

Another required skill-set for this imagined future is the experience to set up a turnkey work camp with all the amenities, anywhere in the world. Some jobs, especially in labor, must be mobile in order to adapt to shifting world demands. Imagine if workers in these fields could know if an operation is closing in this part of the world, there's a home and a job for them even half a world away. A great deal of disruption and lost income (both for the employer and the worker) could be eliminated if these mobile work camps were quickly set up at location of the new demand.

Car for Life 

The disruptive technology of autonomous cars and the market forces I mentioned above means transportation and vehicle ownership in the next few years will be transformed. Futurist Tony Seba speaks of these coming changes. He is highly persuasive. I would add that in a limited-resource, limited-population economy based on efficiency, we will no longer "throw away" or exchange our vehicles every ten years. 

I envision a future where the small percentage of the population who would own their vehicles, will own them "for life". The intelligent car would stay busy during the day, earning it's keep so to speak, by picking up and dropping off rides. It picks up the owner to take her home at the end of the day of course. That owner would get pretty attached to her ride, I would imagine, over time. I don't know about you, but if I knew if I had one car for life, I'd customize my ride. 3-D printing will facilitate this. Parts on demand.

I won't be driving my ride either. I see all sorts of car fun emerging. 

Eyes on the road, James Corden!

Anyways, those are two ways I envision a radically different future. There's all sorts of innovation opportunities in the periphery of both ideas. I'd love also to coach the upcoming generation on how to see the big picture, how to find the new connections and opportunities, and present their ideas in a coherent form. The kids these days are poised to take over, and I wish them all success. It's a radically different world they are making.

Even ideas can be a dime a dozen. But I've got maturity, too. Just in case google is listening, here's my resume.

Thank you greatly for your time,

Janet

resume

Self-Made Books

Some days I wonder if I have read past my contemporaries - certainly well past the young folks these days, my head so stuffed full of sage advice and wonders from a lifetime of reading, if I'm ready for roasting.

Books change one. Call them the flavor enhancers of a life well worn.

Books open up new worlds and fresh perspectives in a compact and private discourse that cannot be matched in a hundred lectures. So what is a woman like me to do, when there are few who have traveled as far or as broad?

Have you ever wondered how Marco Polo fared when he returned to his home town? Would his mother's cooking ever match the exotic fare that had passed his lips? Who of his friends could match his stories, never mind understand them?

One thing a world traveler can do is write. Those thirsty for adventure can drink deep from his experience.

A modern Marco Polo is Louis L'Amour who traveled the world as a merchant seaman, making up his own education as he went along. His memoir, "Education of A Wandering Man" includes a condensed list of must-read books. I've added his list to my own.

Here's a list of self-help books that have done the most to improve my life, in order of impact, with a short note on why they made my list.

1. 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Covey. A tough book because it demanded a tough look at my life. I got stuck on habit three and I had to put the book down a few months. What is the one thing I'm not doing would have the greatest impact on my life? I knew what it was, and indeed it made the biggest difference. Why did I wait so long?
2. On Writing Well by Zinsser.  I put the principles in this book in to practice, specifically crafting all my writing succinctly. Clear writing demands clear thought. Clear thought leads to purposeful action and eliminates confusion. This book changed the way I think. 
3. The Time Paradox by Zimbardo. By simple examples, the author convinced me I'd be happier reframing my miserable past in warm nostalgia, discarding the crippling bits. The happiest people have warm memories of the past, enjoy a hedonistic present, and prudently future oriented. 
4. The Power of Habit by Duhigg. The author offers a simple but powerful message. I now redirect my habits instead of fighting them. It's way less tiring that way. 
5. Catch! A Fishmonger's Guide to Greatness by Crother. I used the principles in here to insert fun and energy in to a large records office. Our group and the Ministry won a recognition award for this. 
6. Leave the Office Earlier by Laura Stack. I picked up this book when I was in a very, very busy position. Indeed I stopped all overtime by applying these principles while meeting all my deadlines. I use this book as a foundation for my time management course. 
7. Getting Things Done by David Allen. This is a time management advanced primer. This book let me relax in the midst of a hundred tasks. Have a system; trust the system.
8. Flow by Csikszentmihalyi. This researcher's compelling studies convinced me to find moments of flow and high creativity in everything I do from peeling a carrot to completing a painting. 
9. Iconoclast by Berns. A validation for my out-of-the box thinking. 

There's another book on Change Management, that provides over a hundred strategies on "recipe cards" that outline when and how the strategy would be used.  But I can't find it right now. 

Getting my Geek On...the Process

At geek week down at the TELUS world of science. I am inspired by Mark Connolly's guests from https://edmonton.nerdnite.com who organize nerd evenings where local affectionados strut their stuff. In front of other nerds of course. Their events sell out so they must be tapping in to Edmonton's heart.

Which got me to thinking. What gets my geek on? Near the top of my list has got to be process mapping considering I leap at any opportunity to facilitate a session. I must have racked up at least ten thousand hours by now.

These diagrams I am convinced also are a critical tool helping businesses stop leaking money. In these times of restraint, it is a great way to keep us all afloat. I have convincing reasons to show you why.

Efficiency.

Yet another comment on Trump

I had the occasion to draw anger. My contemporary model should be no surprise, and it was very easy to find him in full rosy glory. Now, when I am fully absorbed in drawing a figure, I come to know it, even intimately. I saw enough to make a prediction. Though it seems this side of foolish to scatter more random comments in to the roar of words surrounding this man, I'm saying it now. After all, a prediction falls a little flat after the fact.

As I drew this face, I saw perfectly - I mean - perfectly straight teeth. A tad overlarge for the mouth. His naturals have been capped. The skin, disturbingly free of wrinkles. And very evenly tanned; except for around the eyes. This is a man who is hiding his infirmity. 

If this candidate-elect ever becomes president, the job will kill him. Not from random violence or protest, but simply from over-work. He is on the brink of ill-health, and is going to great pains to hide it.  

Old Rocks

Happy Old Rock Day. I picked the granite at the Devonian Gardens to sketch this morning. The challenge of sketching rocks used to confound me. Their irregular shapes and shadows are deceptively simple, but difficult to get just right. But get in to the rock, and I get a sense of what it is. Which I suspect Japanese gardeners have known for a lot longer than I have. Rocks represent immense age and experience. Age and experience is something I do hope this society learns to revere, before we bury it.

As I drew this morning in my sketchbook, this is what I saw with our Devonian rock, carefully selected and placed by a master gardener,

Rocks just sit there, so it is easy to pass them by. They don't charm, entertain, or amuse like a lively pet. The rock has no need of us, so it's message is a whisper in the fountain of life. One must take time to sit and listen. First I am impressed with how massive it is, and how life has settled in to it's nooks and crannies. There's a heavy fall of orange pine needles, and several lichens; green, grey, and white, creep across it's surface. How long does it take an inch of soil to form on the surface of bare rock? Five hundred years! Imagine how many years drift by on our prairie winds.

Underneath the lichens is the rock itself, heavily striated. The surface is nearly uniformly smooth; hostile to new life. The edges, roughed out but still showing the striations of it's early development. How many years do those lines represent? Impossibly older than I will ever be.

I am in the presence of a thing that has outlasted me, and will endure well beyond my spark.

The framing plants are tightly pruned, their winter twigs forming dense globes on either side of the granit. All things are for a reason in a Japanese garden, so I wonder.

The rock was in charcoal, but I could not dismiss it's dressings, so out came pastels and chalk for the orange and green, and finally white acrylic for the brightest lichens.

Minimalist Recap

Well, that was quite a trip. 496 items and more liberated from our home throughout the month of December. I can relate to many of the feelings expressed by Fish Griwkowsky as I followed him on his journey of purgement (Edmonton Journal one last goodbye). I had fun throughout re-purposing old things for new uses.

My son got a photo album I've been saving for him for over fifteen years. I re-covered the harvest gold cover and stenciled his name on it. He loved it and he and his fiancee pored over the pages.

Naomi raved over her penny collection.

My niece gets a "something old" vintage necklace for her upcoming nuptials from her great grandmother.

My stepmom got a rock (she likes rocks) from me and a Blue Jays pin from hubby.

Dad, a Johnny Cash CD.

My daughter was awed that I finished a book I've been writing for her for the last two and a half years. This was a byproduct of the release, so I'll also count it as a re-purpose.

I started painting again.
I cleaned out my e-mail stash since 2013. Only 75 left unread.
I joined a meetup.
Registered for Coursera (R). That might have been a bit too much.
Downloaded an e-book.
Got twitter-hooked and collected a bunch of likes.

There is a tangible release from letting go of clutter. It's hard to explain, but the evidence is inescapable. I'm also using the experience to encourage office staff to release their work clutter, too.

There are collections I did not let go like my brag board, the grandma toy bin, and memory board. I'll tell their stories another time.

Edmonton's Minimalism Game

I'm in. This pack rat's game - or nightmare - is a challenge to part with one item on the first of December, two on the second, and so on to the end of the month. My daughter, when she catches wind of this, will be so proud. It will take more than a sprinkling of my charm to convince her I won't need her help. I heard of this challenge by Edmonton Journal's Fish Griwosky on the radio last night. You can follow his progress at edmontonjournal/life or tweet the hashtag #yegminimal. If all goes as planned, my household will be released from 495 items.

I'll make best use of giveaway, kijiji, freecycle, and our city's versatile recycling facility as I go. All these things carry my memories, so in honor of each I'll release them with their story.

Day 31

I've been waiting all month to post this; brilliant at the time. I figured it would be hard to find thirty-one items after a month of purging, so I picked these out on the first day of the game. I was wrong. There are so many more corners, cupboards, and collections that could benefit from a little scrutiny, asking, "When might I ever use this?"  

My pencil holders were stuffed, so it was easy enough to find spares. I made sure any I give away can still write. There are a half-dozen swag pens from the Aseniwuche. I had no idea. As I was leaving David kept slipping them to me, the prankster. 

The fuzzy pencil carries a memory of neighbour Kristin and her ever creative parties. We got invited simply for living near. Now she has moved but by way of the magic of Facebook, I still get to keep tabs on her growing family.

This game has been a treat. It is hard to imagine how it might be topped. A side-benefit is I don't need more pencil holders now.

Day 30

Tea. Lots of tea.  Don't get me wrong; Kirkland green tea is great. First of all, it's green. It also keeps it's delicate aroma even with vigorous steeping. The only problem with this tea is that there's just too much of it. We had enough green tea to serve us to the next millennium. This is the insidious threat of Costco, that profits from managing in bulk, then shoves the attendant storage and usage problems downstream. I put aside a reasonable number of bags for our own use (which will still last us through next year), and set the rest aside to donate. I'm thinking of dropping them off at the Mosaic Centre.  Re-purposing this tea opened up a box-sized spot on top of our pantry.

Fifteen years ago I came across an auditor's report on the American Military's warehouse operations, that compared usage rate against supply on hand and found that for some consumables, there was enough materiel on hand to supply the army for over a hundred years. The auditor recommended a complete overhaul of the warehouse management system. Last I looked, the military was obeying this recommendation with dragged heel. The auditor was challenging a hoarding culture, where the military's first goal is to be prepared for any contingency. In that culture, a few crammed warehouses here or there are a minor affair. A retiring sergeant helped me understand this. During the first Golf war, there were fears of chemical warfare. Until manufacturers could respond to this emerging demand, soldiers were issued gas masks squirreled away from the Second World War. Something is better than nothing.

I am sure something similar is at work in the mind of the household hoarder. Who knows when that tea bag may come in handy?

Day 29

Fifty-eight forty-fives, the second contribution from hubby. I found these stashed among my crafting supplies and brightly suggested they might be traded in for store credit? After all, we'd done the same with the LP's. Of course special ones can be set aside. It was a pleasure to let Kyle pick out his favourites. We will be taking the rest to Revolver in Londonderry mall.

Day 28

Books I will never crack open again. I preserve their memory on www.goodreads.com. "I was a High School Drop-In" has survived several purges as it is a fascinating read how an adult illiterate can fake it in modern society. Facing his failure was a special kind of courage. "101 Home Based Businesses for Women" was one of those books that made me so angry I couldn't finish it. By comparison "On Walden Pond" challenged me and intrigued me so thoroughly I argued with the author throughout as he steadily built his argument. What was wrong with 101 Home Based Businesses? It was endorsed by Focus on the Family, offering ways for mom to stay at home and raise her brood. But in the very introduction it warns the budding entrepreneur that the budding business is as demanding as a new child and the entire family will have to be prepared for sacrifices.

As in, you know, mother's time and attention.

Kind of blows the whole "have it all" philosophy, don't you think?

I am convinced a far kinder path for a single parent is to find a salaried position with a big company that offers extended health benefits and if it is particularly enlightened, on site day care.

New York is changed in the past fifteen years; the travel guide can go. I haven't cracked a paper dictionary in I don't know how long. I kept my concordance. Indexing is an individual art, and the author of this index appeals to me.

Nate from Value Village cheerfully took all the books off my hands, giving me a run-down on the many ways my donation helps around the world.

Day 27

Under the bathroom sink. Herbal pain relief slipped to us at a fitness fair. Toothbrush heads that don't fit. More promo items. Expired prescription. Hotel shampoo.

This is a good time to promote safe expired prescription disposal. Your local pharmacist will take them. www.rxa.ca. I am pretty sure they all end up incinerated at a terrifically high temperature at the Swan Hills plant.

I'm not discarding half finished bottles as I figure the least environmental damage comes from using them up, but I'm resolving now to do so.

Boxing Day

Odds and sods from days of rummaging. I have binders, a plus size raincoat, a wind-up clock, skewers I picked up myself from a garage sale, and a plastic table cloth.

I'll take this moment to boast on the http://inkindexchange.ca/ a unique service perhaps in North America. This shop and warehouse provides furniture and office supplies, gently used, to member non-profits. We all like to see our donations go to the work we intended, and services like this help to keep down overhead. I'll see if my binders are wanted.

Christmas Day

Sometimes it's in the little things. Vintage lace from my great-grandmother Elizabeth Kesson Barron (1882-1974). I thought this might have been some of her fine work as she used to send us all needlework when we were little, but this has a tag from Haddon Hall. This leads me to wonder if the lace was "lifted". The pearls, badly chipped, I am pretty sure belonged to my paternal grandmother, Helen Hester McMonagle (1913-1961). The the sweater set are also from her. The choker necklace, cleaned up, I am forwarding to my niece, freshly engaged. The pearl buttons I picked up from a garage sale in Innisfail; they are sent in gratefulness to a good friend in Ottawa. 

Dad's work pin from AGT (1906-1991) that must have meant something to my grandfather. Dad worked for AGT from 1959 to his retirement, during the time it was a crown corporation for the province. Dad told me the history of why a prairie province would set up their own phone system. The easterners from Bell, not understanding the breadth of this country, offered a single party line to share for the entire province. Insulted in to action, the new province set up their own phone system, attached to Public Works*. 

A penny, (1969), now doubled in value. 50 pilastres. 25 P.tas Spain (1990). Red rock from a Banff curio shop; the colour rubs off. 

A rock full of fossilized snail shells, a very small rock which I am sure my dad will not mind, which I am passing on to my stepmom. Dawn is an enthusiastic rock hound. Think Lucille Ball in The Long, Long Trailer (1954). 

A lucky star from Norm & Marianne (1960). A quarter (1968). 

I round out the day with a collection of stuffies and stress balls.

Our local Thunderbird club hosts an annual teddy bear drive for the Victims Services Unit. I think I will pass the teddies on that way. 

*The history of AGT is from An Administrative History of the Government of Alberta 1905-2005. 

Christmas Eve

The Christmas stash. Fluffy things acquaintances give each other this time of year. Bargains picked up at New Years sales. None have sentimental value. I made this pile early December, labelled it Christmas in a Bag and posted it on Freecycle. Todd swiftly ran down this deal. I figured people could use these things sooner rather than later. Edmontonians love their Free Stuff. There is still an abundance of trust and good will in this city. Long may it remain so.

The incandescent Christmas lights were all given to Goodwill. I found out from my future daughter-in-law that Goodwill removes the bulbs and strips out the copper to be recycled. Pretty good deal, I figure.

The clumsy hand-painted ornaments from my children, nieces and nephews are carefully tucked back in to a much less cluttered Christmas bin. And I am trimmed down to a single bin. 

Day 23

Gadgets. 

I can carry grandpa's memories without hanging on to the equipment. It's my recollections that matter. 

That's an iPhone 3G in the bottom right corner, wiped and factory reset before I sold it. John picked it up as my first successful customer on kijiji. Word of warning; cell phones garner plenty of junk interactions. As in, "I am dsprte for phone I need this now!!!! Can you bring it to WEM?" John was a delightful exception to the rule, texting in complete sentences. His phone number showed from Florida so I imagine he's here working, and found an inexpensive way to bypass foreign roaming charges. Long may the 3G serve him.

By the way, you can give your factory reset cell phones to an agent to have it repurposed/recycled. These phones, and headphones too, are literal "gold mines" of rare earth elements.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/next/physics/rare-earth-elements-in-cell-phones/

A list of agents in our area can be found at http://www.recyclemycell.ca/. There's a page on the site that gives instructions on wiping your old cell phone.

The camera stuff was my grandfather's I mentioned before how his generation would compose slide show presentations (real slides in cases with carousels), and present them to their friends. Grandpa and grandma traveled to Trinidad to see us, happily snapping exotic photos while he was there, and also up to Alaska to their centennial expo in 1967. 

Grandpa was handy with tools, though his formal education was interrupted by the depression. So he was a working man, starting out as a lumberjack in the forests of Ontario, and finishing his career as a maintenance foreman at a plastics manufacturer. I think for him, the fine milled construction of the camera represented intelligence and ingenuity in design.

It is harder for us to see this same ingenuity in our modern miniaturized, modularized world. But our plug-in toys carry as much design intelligence tucked away in chips. Nowadays we'd need a hammer and a microscope to see it. 

I have given young cameraman Rene, first dibs on this equipment, and sent off the light meter as part of his Christmas package. 

Day 22

Vintage books from my dad's childhood and mine. I remember reading Uncle Remus Stories. Some may be politically incorrect. The Metropolitan Museum of Miniatures, 1950. To save on color printing costs, miniatures of the Masters were shipped as postage stamps, to be glued in by the reader. Similarly, there's a boxed set "Around the World Program", produced around 1957. That my grandpa kept these books and that dad passed them on speaks to their respect for knowledge hard-gained. I'm going to try and find them homes through Abe Books.


Day 21

More artwork. I found these treasures this weekend, a sampling only, of what was buried in a box in the basement. This is a collage of singularly Albertan landscapes. From the upper left clockwise, all 8x10, 

• a watercolor of a field near Innisfail; I lived there at the turn of the century. 
• Ada boulevard with a view of downtown Edmonton, watercolor. Even older than the Innisfail painting.
• Innisfail again, with a view to the foothills. The blazing fall colors of the rolling prairie; oil on hardboard.
• Alberta Legislature, oil on hardboard, plein air. 
• Wetland grasses, oil on hardboard. 

They're doing nobody any good tucked away in the basement. I've got plans on how I might transition these to their forever homes.


Day 20

Obsolete software. Not too many fond memories here, save endless rounds of solitaire Monopoly. Evidence of our accelerating culture, where an ingenious telescoping flash cover from the fifties roots itself as a permanent thing but not a CD. I can imagine the ingenuity and craft of dozens of people from the engineer who designed the parabola to the metalworker who built a template. But a freebie install CD? Meh. 

Day 19

This was another marathon clean-up day. Christmas looms with it's endless commitments so I rummaged through my storage bins and made myself a book pile, a craft pile, a whole new art pile and a garbage pile. This collection is surprisingly hard to let go. The styro balls. I am transported to my childhood and my collection. I kept toilet paper rolls, construction paper bits, cloth, ribbons, poly fill, felt, buttons, anything that might come in handy the next time inspiration hit. I wished for styro balls but rarely had them. 

The tyranny of clutter, though, means I had no idea that I had them and would have no way of tracking them down. I've been hoarding ghosts. 

The release is palpable. I re-purposed Mr. Snowman there on to my Ugly Sweater entry. I used the freshly discovered iron on adhesive to repair a sweater, and crafted a gift for my sister with my findings. 

Day 18

Easy one, inspired by another minimiser. Orphaned socks. I don't have too many; I must be better at cleaning out than I've given myself credit for. I have more matched pairs to give away than orphans. Four moves in six years will do that. Then why do I still have so much stuff?

Which reminds me; have you heard of the Holiday Closet in Europa Boulevard, WEM, collecting for the Bissell Centre? It takes donations until December 22.


Day 17

The camera comes later. Today I am re-purposing seventeen camera roll and tester strip cases. Camera rolls were how we stored pictures before digital.  We used to have to wait days before we knew if a shot worked or not. The shutter button was treated with a great deal more respect back then. I was saving these containers for the funky feature wall mentioned earlier but let's face it; the seventies aren't coming back. The camera is in the shot for colour, but it will be making a reappearance on December 23.

This is one of my grandfather's cameras. Before YouTube or the Internet, grandpa belonged to a camera club who would compose slide shows to regale their friends and neighbours with stories of exotic locales. Grandpa composed slide shows of a grand trip to the Yukon from his home in Renfrew, Ontario, and also his visit to our home in Trinidad. I'll talk more about Grandpa on day 23.

Alaska 1967 Centennial Exposition - photo by Douglas Fraser

Day 16

Everything but the kitchen sink. The season, and the plethora of projects I have on the go, is taking it's toll. I watched the Lynne Singers last night, letting myself be transported by their enthusiasm, while fighting relentless exhaustion. Too many things on the go and not enough sleep. And niggling in the back of my mind was how I was going to find sixteen items to pull. I found my second wind when I got home, and tackled the collection under the sink. A Swiffer duster that's seen better days. Three out of my four scrub-brushes. A worn-out stainless steel scrubbie. Rags. Funny-cutty scissors.

I left the stool in the picture for a reason, even though it is staying. Dad explained at my last visit why the humble stool was his project for the furniture design class he took at the U of A. He told me there is precious little recorded history of the stool, even though it was used widely by both gentry and servant. Ubiquitous, it fades in to the background. But it kept slippered feet off cold stone floors and of course, is handy for a quick step up.

Introverted and quietly helpful, I have gained new appreciation for my dad's furniture of choice.

The rags are going straight to recycle. I decided to keep all my odds and sods of cleaners. I'll be kinder to the environment if I use them up for their intended purpose.

Day 15

On a quiet spring day in 2005, dad invited me over to the house to help him pack up the kitchen. He'd lost his vivacious wife, too soon, to cancer.  I'd stayed in the background through the grinding illness and the funeral that followed, so I was glad to help dad out. Dad picked the child and the activity that would be most meaningful, and he offered me a few collections that would mean more to me than him. This included fifteen Norman Rockwell mugs that Myrna picked up over the years.

These mugs traveled with me over a thousand miles and several house changes, but they haven't been used. They're a cherished memory, and it's not right that they be packed away out of sight. Let them find a new collector and a new home to be loved.

Myrna was a force to be reckoned with, and I hear her voice to this day, reminding me to be beautiful.


Day 14

My paintings, fourteen of them. On day 10 I started posting them to #artAdventCalendar on Twitter. This is my second biggest purge and it does feel like a watershed moment. I no longer worry about losing my art because it lives inside, ready to come out and play any time. It evolves, it does no repeats, and that is fine.

Day 13

Today is a hodge-podge cleaned out of kitchen, office, closet, and basement. My spaces have never looked so good. Vegetable slicers that don't work as advertised. Still-life silk flowers, slightly frayed. A dusky dusty rose garland for this Woman's Room of Her Own. Clip-on lamp for an incandescent bulb; no bulb. Try and explain that to my future great-grandchildren. A scrunchy. M&M containers so cute and empty. And an ink refill kit for a dead printer.

The Skirt of Shame, story left untold.

Day 12

I got this idea from another minimizer. This is a purge of my jewelry box. Only a few orphans it turns out. The snake ring is from an Ardene grab bag; I'll never have an occasion. The lanyard I made at the Native Awareness camp, run by Aseniwuche. Which gets me missing the people. And the mountains. Take Billy for example. When he gets warming up to a story you better be ready to set a while. My city backside begins to wiggle and my mind starts noting all the undone checks on my to-do list. But then Billy's story goes somewhere and I realize I have not met a single soul in the city like Billy, who will hop in his pickup and come help if you need it and give you a good scolding too if you need that. It's the open caring I think that catches me every time. That and the mountains.

There are many more great people in the mountains too and because there are not that many there is time to get to know every one. Billy and the mountains just seem to sum up the place for me.

Recap: The feather earrings and the lanyard are going to my friend Christine. We chummed together in Junior High. The rest are packaged for Goodwill.

Day 11

Board games. I found a taker, Linda through freecycle; I hope to hear from her soon. These games come with a load of memories, difficult to write about even now.  Waterworks is a vintage game, hard to find now, and a favourite of my stepmom's. I lost her too early to cancer. Her personality shines even to this day, as I vividly recall how she would bring out age-appropriate games like this out for the grandchildren. Waterworks is a wonder because everyone can play from smallest tyke to the most curmudgeonly grandfather.  Kids, if you are reading this, don't worry. I inherited two copies of the Waterworks game. I'm shedding one.

King's Crib and Ginny-O were my brother-in-law's games, also now lost to cancer. Remember Movember, and men, don't brush off your annual.  Wesley loved to prove himself at cards.

I think I was the only one who loved Balderdash and the chance to play with words.

Day 10

Books, booklets, and more swag. These are the sensible books, booklets, gadgets and swag that actually helped. The advice is conservative and is consistent with the Canada Food Guide.

I'm going to market it as the secret to weight loss. I'm sure this hasn't been tried before. If I put a price on it I hope to limit the number of flake inquiries.

No magic pills, potions, or shakes. This is vigilance, portion control, and staying active. I've had a terrific team of advisers along the way.

This morning I realized by letting go of these materials I am shedding some history; decades of dietary vigilance, really. I had gradually gained weight year by year, eventually acquiring insulin resistance then type two diabetes. I attended all the classes offered by our health care system. I portioned out my food as recommended by the Canada Food Guide. The watershed moment happened during my stay in the mountains, where I gained yet another ten pounds. The regimen of pills was no longer working and we were talking about insulin. That was when my doctor asked me if I had considered signing up at the Weight Wise clinic?  The past three years it has been a life transformation.

I have shed a burden, and it has lightened me.

Day 9 - Loyalty pins

Swag from ARMA conferences, past Olympics, and old loyalties. Noah's Ark no longer holds the same significance for me. I see from e-Bay that collecting pins is a thing. I might just try and find some interest there. It's not like these things are taking a lot of space. Parlez-vous Yahoo in 2008, and what did you say there?

Day 8 - A simple day; donation to the Strathcona Food Bank. The employees of Opus are running this drive.

Day 7 - Event t-shirts, evidence of my newly active life. I've got Corporate Challenge, Grande Cache Coal, Mud Hero, and Run for the Cure. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt. There are other ways for me to hang on to these memories as the trimming gurus remind us. I've got a brag board I will show off early in the new year that will be spared the trimmer's shears. Grande Cache' remote, wild places call to me. The mine is struggling with the price of metallurgical coal so low.

Day 6 - Storage tubes saved from Biosteel packets. My plan was to save enough for a feature wall. I saw some-such thing made from L'eggs when I was a younger, and the image stuck. I bought the Biosteel to annoy my daughter, who prefers all-natural. The powder turns my workout water hot pink, naturally, by way of beet extract. Besides, pink workout water makes me feel righteous.

This weekend ended up being a massive purge and clean exercise, and I've already re-purposed two of the tubes to hold my bookmarks; my downstairs book and my upstairs book. I am with my books as Doug from King of Queens was with his upstairs wife and his downstairs wife; one of my favourite episodes.

Day 5 - Evidence of debt cleared. This is a special sort of house-cleaning, facing our mounting debt and getting a handle on it. In a city where wealth flows freely, this happens more often than we may want to admit. With free flowing funds we find new temptations. Hubby and I faced those bills and asked for help from Money Mentors, a provincial non-profit service back in 2014. They also offer workshops monthly. This debt will finally be cleared in the spring of 2019. I'm booking a party.

So the day five discards are old bill reminders. This does feel clean.

Day 4 - I managed to convince hubby to hand over a pair. He's contributed a Miami Dolphins winter jacket, a Philadelphia Flyers jersey, and a pair of Calgary Cannons (1985-2002) promotional balls. Thank you, hubby, for stepping up to the plate. As you can see, his choices are eclectic. Just to be contrary, all you can count on is that he won't be following any local teams.

OH! I should mention we spent a lion's share of our date nights at Calgary Cannons games.

Day 3 - Penny collection I've been saving for my granddaughter Naomi and her two friends. The penny project  was launched in 2012 by these three girls racing around the neighbourhood, harvesting the little coppers. I saw the day coming, and promised the girls these little discards would be worth something some day. They cheerfully indulged me, and then I web traded to fill in the collection. Did you see the special condition of penny 2001? My daughter found this in her washing machine's pump, along with many more.

Day 2 - Unused leftovers from the memorable family gathering this past May. So much blended family. 

Day 1 - City of Edmonton Coloring Book, mint condition. A compulsive swag grabber, I picked this up at the CityLab event on November 8, a free showing of the movie, Urbanized, at the Metro Cinema. I am sure this will be a collectors item one day.