This post is coming to you exactly 5 years (and 2 days) after I competed waaay back in the day at ICBC 2005. I’m so amazed at how quickly time flies, but really happy to be able to look back on events from so long ago!!

I’ve told several people I have a really good feeling [...]]]>

This post is coming to you exactly 5 years (and 2 days) after I competed waaay back in the day at ICBC 2005. I’m so amazed at how quickly time flies, but really happy to be able to look back on events from so long ago!!

I’ve told several people I have a really good feeling about 2010 and the year got off to an amazing start! I had the privilege of joining the JMSB team at Queen’s University for this year’s ICBC case competition. Being surrounded by so much energy, enthusiasm and fun was exactly what I needed to kick start the year!

I’m going to cheat and copy/paste some of what I wrote to the students, but it’s a good summary of how I felt about them:

Now for the cheesy (hopefully, inspirational) stuff: You guys are truly the best of the best that JMSB has to offer. I was so proud watching all of you present, network (and party!) this weekend. I was especially impressed with how young some of you are and I’m really looking forward to when you’re all business leaders! JMSB’s reputation continues to excel and improve because of individuals like you. You make us proud!!

I truly hope we’ll have a chance to work together in “the real world” one day!

I just went back and read the entry from 5 years ago! Here are 2 things that stood out to me that are still very relevant today:

2010: Our MIS team, despite an amazing performance, didn’t podium. I’m sure they were a little disappointed and that’s perfectly normal.

2005: I was quite disappointed that my team didn’t podium and Mark (the head coach) said: “If you always want to win, stay home.” Blunt, but very true.

2010: On the “Board Game” theme night, after walking around for a few minutes, I said to Val: “I’ve looked around quite carefully and there is no doubt that you guys are the best looking delegation here. No question.”

2005: Our team ambassador said the following to me: “Hey man, no matter what anyone says, the one thing that can’t be disputed is that you guys are still the best looking group here. And that’s what really matters!” Hilarious.

Here are some pictures that summarize the fun pretty well:

Thanks to everyone for a really fun weekend and congratulations to all the teams!!

Here’s a link to the official press release: JMSB Returns from ICBC with 2 Podiums

Leave for Change is a subprogram of Uniterra, one of Canada’s leading international volunteer programs. The program offers individuals and companies the opportunity to contribute towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). While Uniterra offers longer term projects, the Leave for Change program is unique in that [...]]]>

What is “Leave for Change”?

Leave for Change is a subprogram of Uniterra, one of Canada’s leading international volunteer programs. The program offers individuals and companies the opportunity to contribute towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). While Uniterra offers longer term projects, the Leave for Change program is unique in that it offers shorter projects that last 2-4 weeks. These are well suited for professionals who may not be able to take leaves of absence, but would like to offer their expertise as a volunteer. For more details on how the program works for employers and employees and how you can get involved, please visit the Uniterra website at www.uniterra.org.

Can someone make a difference in 2 to 4 weeks?

This is the most commonly asked question and the answer is “Yes!” The key strength, and what makes short term mandates work, is focus. Since the partners know the volunteer is only there for a short while, everyone works more efficiently to maximize their time. Most people don’t have the same sense of urgency to get things done when a volunteer is on a longer term project.

Knowing some of the complexities and challenges in humanitarian work, I knew I had big shoes to fill when the organizers kept telling me that the last short term volunteers were incredible! In the end, everyone was pleased with the results and I received these kind words from the partner I worked with:

“Your courage to choose a country that experienced a decade long civil war, diligence to get things done rightfully, a skill-set to adapt to a new environment and upbeat and pleasant personal traits in combination mitigated all challenges to make the program successful.”

What was your mandate?

The partner organization and I offered a “Business development and social entrepreneurship awareness” seminar to 8 of the largest NGOs in Nepal. The NGOs in attendance dealt with a range of social issues such as healthcare, energy, finance, forestry, media, etc. The participants also varied in age and experience so the audience was quite diverse. We presented business concepts in ICT, marketing and finance as well as recommendations around potential income streams to minimize donor dependence. The feedback received after the seminar indicated that it was a great learning experience for them.

Leave for Change mandates are focused on capacity building, so unlike a reconstruction mission I did after the Tsunami in Sri Lanka, this was more of a knowledge transfer/educational project. While this project wasn’t in the field at the grassroots level, as many volunteer projects are, the transfer of skills was still a very satisfying experience.

Who did you work with?

My project was a multi-partner placement; however, I worked primarily with Magnus Consulting, a social enterprise based in Nepal. Magnus has only been active in Nepal for 4 years, but, arguably, they’ve done more for the country than some NGOs that have been there much longer. Their current focus is to bring ICT to local farmers in rural areas of Nepal.

The founders’ courage and determination to push forward in a country that is experiencing significant political change is inspiring. Their core values of integrity, transparency, good governance and efficiency in everything they do, make Magnus a good example of why social enterprises are the way of the future in driving social change.

Would you recommend this program to others?

Absolutely! After my experience with Tsunami relief work in Sri Lanka, I feel everyone, at some point, should volunteer in a developing country. My experience in Nepal further cemented that belief. A short term Leave for Change project is ideal as it allows you to sample volunteerism. Although humanitarian work isn’t meant for everyone, Leave for Change is a great way to get your feet wet! It’s an amazing experience both personally and professionally; I highly recommend it!

If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask as I’m happy to share my experience!

[...]]]> I made it safe and sound to Bangkok and interestingly enough, I met a fellow Montrealer in Kathmandu who was coming on the same flight as me, so I had a travel buddy for a couple of days! I don’t have much time, but I wanted to share some pictures from Bangkok with you:

We first went to the MBK mall- I felt like I was back at the Eaton’s center except that there was also a fairly large flea market-like area where they were selling tons of random stuff, there were booths with thousands of cell phones, cameras and MP3 players of all shapes and sizes. I also had a great meal in the food court for about $4.

After we finished up at the mall, we were going to visit the royal palace but it was closed. Some nice tuktuk drivers offered to take us around to a few tourists sites for 100bhat. We didn’t realize that the “scam” was that they would take us to some fashion store where they would try to convince me to get a tailor made suit. I actually looked at some of the designs and fabrics, but apparently not long enough for the driver to get his gas voucher (they pay his gas for bringing people to the store I guess). He was quite angry, but hey- some you win, some you lose!

Some pictures from the Wat Benchamabophit temple which is also known as the Marble Temple.

They also had several statues of Buddha in various poses from different eras and areas of Asia.

When we arrived, we saw an area that said: “Do not enter”, so of course, we didn’t. As we walked around and saw the all the buddha statues, we came upon this door. We walked in very quietly since there were monks meditating and as we got to the other side, we realized this was the same “Do not enter” room! Oops.

The next stop was Wat Indrawihan, the temple of the [giant] standing buddha, but not before we got dra
gged into another custom tailor shop. I believe he said the statue was around 30 meters tall!

I’ll wrap up with some pictures from Khao San road, which is one of the main tourist strips here in Bangkok. The second picture is great- this gentleman is quite the character and apparently he’s been doing this for years: He rides around in his suped-up tuktuk blaring Christmas music from artists such as Boney M. I was reminded of Christmas back home!

This is a view of Lalitpur and [...]]]> Last Saturday, I was taken for a city tour to 3 locations around Kathmandu. Here are some pictures of the first place we went to called Lalitpur. As with most pictures on this blog, you can click on them to see a larger version.

This is the entrance to the palace. I’m always amazed at the level of detail of the sculptures on the temples!

More temples and sculptures

This is the entrance to the Golden Temple. Something interesting: Since the cow is a sacred animal here, if you’re wearing leather shoes, you have to take them off before going into the temple!

Here’s a temple with 5 roofs and a statue of Buddha.

All these people are lining up to offer a sacrifice in the temple and the 2nd picture is an altar where people will come and offer fruits/coconuts to the gods.

I’m not a fan of the picture, but I guess they wanted someone who looks [...]]]>

Count on me to get quoted saying something about relationships/dating although it was a business article!!

Ian [...]]]>

“For guys, it’s half your age plus 7. That’s the standard rule; everyone knows that.” -One of my female friends (sorry, I can’t remember who!)

After many years of research about 45 minutes, the Selvarajah Institute for Relationship Management* has released the above diagram [...]]]>
Relationship Age Gap Chart from SIRM (Click image for a larger view)

“For guys, it’s half your age plus 7. That’s the standard rule; everyone knows that.”
-One of my female friends (sorry, I can’t remember who!)

After many years of research about 45 minutes, the Selvarajah Institute for Relationship Management* has released the above diagram depicting the “standard” relationship age range as well as other bonus relationship types.

Lower Limit: y = (1/2)x + 7 (Apparently a standard)
Upper Limit: y = 1.5x – 7 (I made this one up)

Where y is the female’s age and x is the male’s age. The dashed red line indicates the legal (> 18 years old) limit.

Safe Area

Denoted by the blue area, because blue is my favorite color. This is the area that falls within the established upper and lower limits. Note that as one gets older, the acceptable area becomes larger for both males and females. The good news is: as a male, when you’re 75 you can date a woman who’s between the ages of 45 and 106. This also means that if your relationship currently falls into one of the other areas, it’ll probably standardize itself in a few years, so there’s nothing to worry about!

Cougar Area

Denoted by the pink/purple shading, inspired by the cougars’ 80s lipstick (no, I’m not speaking from personal experience…*cough* *cough*). This area begins when women turn 33 and ends when men turn 33. One can’t really be considered a cougar preying on young men unless they’re 33+ and if the male is 33+, then he can’t really be considered prey. Sample cougar relationship: F-38 M-23

Sugar Daddy Area

Denoted by the money green shading, for obvious reasons. Like the cougar area, the sugar daddy area begins when men turn 33 and ends when women turn 33. Similar reasoning as the cougar range is used. Sample sugar daddy relationship: M-45 F-23

Grey Area

Denoted by the grey shading, because it’s…well…the grey area. This is the area where a relationship doesn’t quite fall into the cougar/sugar daddy/illegal range, but is not in the standard range either. Sample grey area relationships: M-27 F-19 , F-28 M-21. These grey area relationships tend to standardize over time.

Conclusion

Any relationship that falls outside a shaded area is either illegal or creepy. Sample illegal relationships: F-38 M-15, M-38 F-15; sample creepy relationships: F-58 M-19, M-65 F-23

I was inspired to create this chart a few weeks ago because it had been a long time since I had done colorful graphs in Excel and I was curious to see what 1/2x+7 would look like after my friend told me about the “standard” rule. Once I saw that was just a simple/boring line, I added the extra stuff. This was also an easy way for me to explain functions to my youngest sister…ok, ok, I had a little too much time on my hands! As always, I’m very interested in your thoughts/feedback. There are more “relationship” diagrams to come…where does your relationship fit into all this?

UPDATE: I received an interesting email about this theory

*No, this is not a real entity…yet. I would like to thank my coworker F for helping come up with the name SIRM. I also feel the need to mention that taking relationship advice from me is probably a really bad idea.

Anyway, here are some pics of T at 4 months:I’ve [...]]]> I introduced Thomas back in this entry and I’ve just received some new pictures of him. I hope my kids are this cute!! This is part of why I need an attractive wife…see? I’m not only thinking about myself! I’m thinking of my children!!

Anyway, here are some pics of T at 4 months:

I’ve been told he really loves to laugh, so as long as he’s a happy kid, that’s what counts!!

Thomas also had his first swimming lesson a few days ago. Here he is in the pool with his dad!

It’s a common misconception that good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people. I know there’s a term in psychology for this, but I [...]]]> Talking about free will, God’s plans and Darwin‘s comment about fatal car accidents, I thought about an incident that happened to me back in May 2003.

It’s a common misconception that good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people. I know there’s a term in psychology for this, but I can’t remember it now. We’ve all seen terrible things happen to good people and great things happen to bad people. People often ask: If there is a God, why is there so much bad in the world? I like to think that there’s a reason for everything good or [seemingly] bad. It all depends on your perspective. Here’s my story:

About 3 years ago, I was studying cramming for an exam with a couple of girls about 2 hours before we were going to write. We eventually decided we would drive over to the school and study there. I had my car and they had theirs. They left before me so I started off following them down the road. At one point, I changed lanes, passed them and was now driving in front of them.

As I drove along without a care in the world, out of the corner of my eye I suddenly noticed that a car (in the opposing lane) was making a left turn into my lane without looking. I realized I didn’t have my seatbelt on (not smart.), so I gripped the steering wheel tightly, pushed myself as far back into my seat as possible and slammed the breaks. CRASH!!

My car after my first accident. It obviously wasn’t my fault, so the insurance covered it.

I got out of the car and the two girls (driving behind me) had already come running out. One of them was crying. The first words that came out of my mouth were: “Whoa. I’m glad that wasn’t you guys.” She looked at me stunned and gave me a big hug. I walked over to make sure the old lady was OK and then sat on the sidewalk and continued studying until the cops came. A few weeks later, one of the girls came and said: “Do you remember the first thing you said was that you were glad it wasn’t us? Why did you say that!? I thought that was amazingly selfless!”

I’m not sure if it was selfless, but as you may know, I’m a very logical and rational person, so this was my thought process the second I got out of my car: IF they were still driving in front of me, they would have been the ones to get hit and the situation could have been far more different:

• The car she was driving (a Toyota Tercel) was MUCH smaller and lighter than mine; it would have definitely been pushed much further onto the sidewalk and that old lady may have not seen another day.
• Assuming she had slightly slower reflexes than me, the car would have smashed into the driver’s side door.
• There were 2 of them in the smaller car, thus more chances of either of them getting hurt.

Yes, all these things crossed my mind within those first few seconds and I thought: “Thank God it was me and not them.”

The story ends on an even better note because since I was not at fault in the accident, the insurance paid to get my car back in top shape (even better than it was pre-accident). Oh, I also aced that exam!

When “bad” things happen, how quick are you to stop freaking out, take a step back, try to see the bigger picture and come up with a positive perspective of the situation?