Everyone, Well, that didn’t take long. In the two weeks since my last message, Omicron has laid siege to the world and new cases are exploding at growth rates unseen at any moment of this pandemic. In the six weeks since it was identified in South Africa, Omicron has [...]
Hello Everyone, You will not be surprised to know that I am all-in on the promotion of words. In case you missed it, the dictionary people Merriam-Webster announced their Word of the Year recently. “Vaccine” won. The cheekier short-form “vax” was the duly anointed by the Oxford English Dictionary. [...]
Everyone, Summer’s end is always bittersweet. Labour Day isn’t really end of summer. Astronomically speaking, that would be the fall equinox that occurs this year on September 22 here in the northern hemisphere. But it has always felt that way to me. Here in Ontario, the weather is still pleasant [...]
I sometimes hold it half a sin To put in words the grief I feel; For words, like Nature, half reveal And half conceal the Soul within. But, for the unquiet heart and brain, A use in measured language lies; The sad mechanic exercise, Like dull narcotics, numbing pain. In [...]
Everyone, Over this past weekend, we suffered our darkest hour of the pandemic as a company and a community. A gentleman who worked for us in our Western Industrial group died Saturday in a northern Alberta hospital from COVID-19 complications. He had spent nearly one month in the intensive care [...]
Everyone, And that’s where the hornet stung me, and I had a feverish dream. I imagine most Canadians my age recognize that lyric from The Tragically Hip’s “Ahead by a Century”. A memorable song written by an unforgettable man named Gord Downie. In the 25 years since its release, this [...]
Everyone, It has been a while since my last update. It is not that I consciously decided to skip February. It just turned out that way. I prefer to strike a hopeful tone in my updates and, after the setbacks of late January and a very wintry winter stretch over [...]
Everyone, I am not big on New Year’s resolutions during the best of times. Not that I don’t have plenty to improve upon. It’s just that smaller, simpler and more frequent plans have always worked better for me than annual goal setting. This approach seems particularly well-suited for 2021. Big [...]
Everyone, I recently came across a newspaper recap of the pandemic crisis entitled “COVID-19 Year One”. I didn’t read the article. I never made it past the title. The “COVID-19” part was hardly surprising. I have probably thought, said, written or typed that name a million times during 2020, frequently [...]
Everyone, It is safe to say that COVID-19 is currently laying a beating on us. A bad one. Case counts are exploding in many of our communities in Canada and the United States. It is a grim demonstration of the exponential growth in infections that so many experts warned was [...]
Everyone, So much of our conversation during this pandemic has focused on sacrifice. The ongoing actions, large and small, that we are collectively and personally required to do to stop the spread of this coronavirus and to keep ourselves and our community safe. Today we solemnly remember, reflect upon, and [...]
Everyone, Halloween was effectively cancelled here in Toronto this past weekend. The trick-or-treating was deemed imprudent given the recent resurgence of COVID-19 cases. There were still pumpkins and decorations and some kids prowling round in costumes during the daytime but the excitement was noticeably absent when the sun set. It [...]
Everyone, We celebrate Thanksgiving this weekend here in the Great White North. Technically speaking, the holiday is on Monday but no one gets too fussy about when the celebratory meal occurs. Though transformed by modern convenience, Thanksgiving is an ancient tradition. Indigenous peoples in North America have a history of [...]
Everyone, It has been nearly three weeks since my last update and the hard realities of this pandemic are coming to the forefront once again. In B&M, we experienced four new infections during this time, 3 in Kansas City and the other in Toronto. The number of active COVID-19 cases [...]
Everyone, It happens every year. I still feel that same tinge of dread and nervous excitement that I experienced as a kid on the first of September. That old program, etched there in my memory, lurches into action. The wistful reflection on summer’s end and an apprehension about what is [...]
Everyone, Apologies for skipping a week but I took some time off and tried to keep the laptop closed. I did reasonably well. We are now at Day 157 since Canada experienced its 100th case of COVID-19 and Day 159 for the United States. Nearly half a year of a “new [...]
Everyone, We continue to experience new cases of COVID-19 infection within our B&M ranks. My last message did not account for two other emerging incidents. To get everyone caught up, I can tell you that we have had 6 new confirmed cases since the beginning of July, bringing our total [...]
Everyone, We have two new confirmed cases of COVID-19 within the B&M ranks since my last update. Both have occurred in our Kansas City operation and fortunately the individuals are recovering without serious issue thus far. These are the first known infections in our cohort of American colleagues. Many Canadians [...]
Everyone, “Are we there yet?” There aren’t many of us who haven’t uttered these words from the back seat of the car on a long journey or fielded this question while at the wheel. This pandemic is creating a trip-fatigue of a different kind. We are all tired of the [...]
Everyone, Happy Canada Day ! Mask up. To protect others. Please. Bruce