A Wee Bit Chilly In Edmonton

It was “brisk” weekend in Edmonton with the air temperature dropping to a record -36.5°C on Sunday. Factoring in the wind chill brought the temperature to a staggering -50°C.

Here’s some fun facts about these fun temperatures:

• Heavy duty construction cranes, from the little picker trucks to the massive superlift cranes rarely operate below -35°C.
• Heavy duty construction workers also rarely operate below -35°C. Although this is no slight to those highly skilled trades, but more of a reflection of Occupational Health & Safety guidelines.
• 100 proof vodka freezes at approximately -40°C.
• The boiling point of pure chlorine is -34.04°C.
• Pure mercury melts at -38.72°C.
• The low for Vostok, Antarctica was -37°C this past weekend.
• Exposed skin can freeze in less than a minute (Yay! Fun!)

It was cold. Edmontonians put on their long underwear and toques and mitts and survived. Social agencies and aid organizations did their best to make sure no one froze out on the streets and the AMA had wait times of up to 24 hours for a battery boost.

Fun!

A Complaint Free World

Every once and a while, I happen across a life-altering event. “A Complaint Free World” was the title of a recent service at my church, and it was life-altering.

A Complaint Free World is an organization that strives to help people by helping them become complaint free. It sounds simple, and even a bit naive, but it works. My wife and I tried this approach after the service and learned a lot about ourselves. When we became conscious of our complaining, we realized that we do an awful lot of bitching and whining. It took a while, but after a few days, our levels of complaining had dropped significantly, but our happiness levels rose. Coincidence? Perhaps, but I believe the simple act of talking and discussing rather than complaining was the main factor behind this newfound happiness.

Becoming complaint free is not simple. Becoming complaint free doesn’t mean you become a pushover either. Becoming complaint free is worth it, look into it.

Problems at School

My daughter is excels in school. When the course work isn’t challenging her, she challenges herself. She’s not having problems with school, I am.

I recently completed a knowledge management course at the University of Alberta in the Engineering Management program in the department of Mechanical Engineering. Dr. Touraj Nasseri was an excellent instructor, so I have no problems there. The course material and course work were appropriate and helpful, again, no problems. The students were keen and eager to learn; no problems. Many of the students had entered into the Engineering Management program straight from their undergraduate studies. Most of these students had little or no experience in the workplace. This was a problem.

The students are taking Engineering Management, presumably, to learn about management in the engineering field. I get that. Other programs exist in engineering management where students must have at least 5 years of experience in the workplace. In the situation at the University of Alberta, a mix of students may be appropriate. If half of the students in my knowledge management class had at least 5 years of experience and half of the class were fresh from undergraduate studies, I think class discussions would have been more valuable. The mix of experience and fresh perspectives could have generated new ideas and improved discussions.

I should say that a group presentation was involved in this class and the members of my group had little or no engineering experience but performed exceedingly well. They were eager to learn and willing to try new ideas.

That’s just my opinion though, others may disagree…