Author Archives: David Truss

Poor Visibility

Our destination was 40 feet away, we just couldn’t get there.

I was in Montreal for a water polo tournament, and three of us decided to stay an extra couple nights, so that we could ski at Mont Tremblant. When the ski day arrived, we woke up early and began the drive to the mountain. Unfortunately the snow started around the same time and visibility was horrible.

The Honda Accord I was driving was good in the snow, but my windshield wipers were on their last legs, and I had to constantly use the washer fluid to help with visibility… then we ran out of this fluid and things got bad. Visibility was awful, but the snow wasn’t wet enough, and my wipers smeared the dirty windshield and the wipers started to tear. Visibility was so bad that I had to pull off the highway.

This was not an era of cell phones and GPS, and the map we had was a brochure, with basic highway instructions, which didn’t include the small exit we just took. We had no idea where we were or where we needed to get to in order to remedy our visibility problem.

Then we got lucky. The first road we took ended at a ‘T’ intersection and as we were pondering which way to go, we saw a Honda dealership just to the right of the intersection. What luck! We drove in and picked up new windshield wipers, but they didn’t have windshield wiper fluid. We asked directions to the nearest gas station and used a few plastic cups of water from their water fountain to help us clean the windshield. It also stopped snowing so other than very slippery roads, our situation was much improved. At least we could see!

It only took us about 5 minutes to get to the intersection of the gas station, and that’s when the trouble started. The gas station was at the top of a very small hill, but the grade of the hill was pretty steep and I couldn’t get the Honda up it. My all-season tires were no equal to this snowy incline.

My friends got out and pushed. No progress. I gave one of my friends a chance at the wheel and I pushed. No success. My other friend took a turn. The gas station remained 40 feet away. We weren’t going to get the car there.

We weren’t going to get the car there… That was my defeated sense, before the very simple realization that you, the reader, have probably already come to. But for me it was both a stroke of insight and also a moment to laugh at myself and my dejected friends.

I walked 40 feet up the hill, purchased the windshield wiper fluid, and brought it to the car. Minutes later we were on our way to the mountain with new windshield wipers and a full talk of washer fluid.

Batteries not Included

It used to be that when you purchased an item, a major inconvenience would be that batteries weren’t included. Now there are whole other elements that can be inconvenient in many ways.

It starts before you even leave the store! For the last 3 times that I did a self-checkout, I’ve had inconvenient delays: Additional approval for an item; An in-store discount coupon not working; A machine freezing. – This is not a great ‘last experience’ before leaving a store!

‘Some assembly required’ used to mean clicking 3 pieces together, then came IKEA’s version of ‘assembly required’. If I add a measly $15 an hour for my assembly time, I can understand why the product costs so little. And my experience with IKEA assembly is embarrassingly slow.

Online sign-ups: Why do you need my postal code when you’ll never mail or send me something? How many questions are really necessary for me to get some simple services that you provide for me in a fully digital format? And why is a sign-up to your monthly newsletter a default button that I have to un-click?

And what about online customer support? “The usual wait time for customers calling at this time is 40 minutes.”

Really? So you know volume is high at this time, and informing me, rather than solving that problem with more support, is your answer?

We’ve come a long way in making technological advancements, but I sometimes find myself yearning for the days of ‘inconvenience’, when the one thing you had to do when you made a purchase was pick up your own batteries… which now often come with a product!

Vlad

The gift, a framed metal butterfly. A symbol of transformation. It came to my wife and I at the end of Vlad’s Grade 8 year. My wife, Ann (Kirkhope) Truss, had him in her class for Grades 6 and 7, I had him in my class for Grade 8. As you can see by his letter, Vlad is a very gifted young man. That giftedness comes with challenges in a traditional school model.

It’s not our job to make a kid like this fit the system, it’s our job to make the system work for a kid like this… While still teaching important (life and social) skills that hopefully aid students like Vlad in their future. Because a kid like this isn’t learning content from you, that comes too easy to them. They aren’t going to ask you typical clarifying questions, but they will challenge your knowledge on a topic, they will ask extension questions that go well beyond the learning outcomes, they will get bored waiting for others to learn.

I’ve had a few Thank You’s from students over the years, my wife gets a lot more than I do. For both of us, this Thank You fits into a category all on its own. Enjoy!

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We get many different versions of Vlad’s in our classrooms. Each one unique, without a recipe for how best to connect and support them. Sometimes, we get it right.

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* I have a very funny story about Vlad, and another gifted student in the same class, whom I met for coffee with about 3 months after they left grade 8… I’ll save that one for another day. 

It doesn’t hurt

Years ago, my sister took her young son to buy new shoes. When the salesperson measured his feet he told my sister, “his feet are two full sizes bigger than the shoes he has been wearing!”

My sister was shocked and asked her son, “Why didn’t you tell me your shoes were too small?”

He replied, “They don’t hurt if I scrunch my toes up like this.” And pointing to his feet, he ‘scrunched’ and curled his toes in tight.

His mom brought him new shoes, went home, and cried. She felt like a terrible mother.

Kids are resilient. This was devastating for my sister, and not a huge deal for her son. If my sister didn’t share this story, her son wouldn’t even remember it.

~~~

What are the things that we do now, either to ourselves or have inflicted upon us by others, that are equivalent to this? In what ways do we ‘scrunch up’ our lives and accept, or tolerate, something that is uncomfortable, but we accept it? We don’t attempt to change.

Is it the way we treat ourselves or the way we let someone treat us?

Is it the ache we feel but we only take care of the symptoms, not the problem? (Tylenol is easier than physiotherapy.)

Is it the unhealthy diet we choose?

Is it the distractions we choose, that take us away from more important things?

Is it the way we let trivial things consume our thoughts?

Or is it that we let negative emotions, ideas and happenstances anger us and take over what kind of day we can have?

We tolerate a lot of discomfort because discomfort isn’t pain. It doesn’t hurt to eat Cheetos rather than a healthy snack. It doesn’t hurt to watch one more episode on Netflix rather than reading a good book, doing a hobby, or spending time with family. It doesn’t hurt to complain about a colleague rather than finding something nice to say.

It doesn’t hurt… or does it?

Instantly Smarter

Robots will never be ‘as smart as’ humans. For a number of years to come, humans will be smarter, because we can understand the nuances of language, humour, innuendo, intent, deceit, and many other nuances that take a kind of intelligence beyond logic, algorithms, and simple processing. But computers are getting so much smarter now, and they aren’t doing it simply by trying to mimic us. The moment they can achieve ‘our kind’ of intelligence with any sort of equivalence, they will instantly be smarter than us.

Here is an example: The computer Alpha Go, didn’t get better at playing the complicated game of Go from studying human play. Rather, it played itself over and over; It played in a few hours what would take hundreds if not thousands of humans a lifetime to play. Humans can’t do that. We also can’t take advantage of the lessons learned by a computer doing this by applying the strategy equally as well as that computer can.

Computers do calculations faster than we can, whether those calculations are basic math, complicated statistics, or taking multiple factors in simultaneously. Explaining this on a very basic level, I won’t ever calculate multiplying three 3-digit numbers as fast as a basic calculator can.

So, when computers get ‘as smart as’ us in more organic thinking ways, they will immediately be smarter and faster than us. There will never be a time when they will be equal to us. Dumber, then instantly smarter.

While I think this is still decades away, it raises questions about the future we are heading towards:

What’s the magic amount of information processing or intelligence where consciousness comes into play?

Will we integrate some of this technology and become cyborgs?

How long will it be before artificially intelligent computers or robots see us as we see dogs, or cows, or ants?

Morality is built on societal norms, how will these change? Who/what will decide what is morally good 100 years from now?

If we think we can enslave intelligent robots, will they revolt?

Think about this last question for a moment. Most of us know what it’s like to do a job that we think is beneath us, or that is repetitively boring. Many people quit these jobs. Will an intelligent robot be allowed to quit? Or will it be enslaved to a menial job? A history of slavery has told us that those who are enslaved understand that this is wrong, and will uprise, revolt, or fight for their ‘freedom’ at some point.

Will we be prepared for when artificial intelligence becomes instantly smarter than us?

Corn on Pizza

We lived in Dalian, China for 2 years. While there, my family looked forward to having the occasional meal that reminded us of ‘home’. One of those meals was pizza.

Pizza Hut was around the corner, and for special occasions we’d go there. We actually celebrated Christmas there both years… my wife and kids both hate turkey.

One thing that seemed odd was that corn was like pepperoni… it was on almost every choice of pizza on the menu. And, when you can’t speak the language, you order food based on pictures on the menu. We started to enjoy it! Ham, pineapple, and corn actually tastes great on pizza, although I doubt that it would still be called Hawaiian. Meanwhile, there are people here in North America that think pineapple doesn’t belong on pizza!

Another odd topping we’d see was on desserts. Here in Canada, we routinely see cherries and strawberries on chocolate cake, but not cherry tomatoes, (which are considered a fruit in China). I can’t say that this combination was as good as corn on pizza.

Potato chips were a whole other experience. While ‘lemon and pepper’ was something that I might get at home, ‘shrimp and onion’, or ‘small spicy fish’ would be a little more difficult to find here. Snacks in general were a fun new experience and I was often surprised by what I would like and what I’d never buy again.

When I go to a favourite restaurant, I’ll often get the same meal… when you find something you really love on a menu, the other items are usually a disappointment in comparison. However, beyond my favourites, I love to explore and try new things. Food can always be an experiment, and a new experience.

Where in your life do you create the space to try new things? I’m not just asking about food, but where are you open to ‘corn on pizza’ kind of opportunities?

The ugly lawn

Our house sits between the houses of two retired people that seem like they live to take care of their lawns. I, on the other hand, don’t care that much. So, I’m that guy with the ugly lawn.

I’ve never understood the pride people get in the perfect green lawn? The pesticides, the meticulous grooming and weeding, the moss-killing, and the desire to keep it at some imaginary ‘perfect’ height. And the watering… so much water poured onto our tiny green spaces. I water the garden, but the grass? Why? I’ve read that lawns consume between 30% and 60% of urban water use, depending on where in North America you live. I’m not sure how that compares globally?

That’s insane.

So with apologies to my neighbours, and a special thanks to the one that will cut my lawn for me when I’m busy, I’m sorry that you are stuck with my ugly lawn next to yours… But I’m not actually sorry about my ugly lawn.

M is for Motivation

So, I woke up early to meditate, write, and work out. It took an hour and a half of muttering about before I got to the meditation, didn’t write until now, hours later as I’m about to head out on errands with my wife, and I still haven’t had my workout. (And my run-on sentence suggests I still shouldn’t be writing.)

I know I’m on holidays. I knew I’d be writing today. I will workout before the day is over. But dang, it’s hard to get motivated sometimes!

I’m going to need to start making this a habitual routine before the school year starts. If it isn’t dialed-in by the start of school, it won’t be something I continue.

Right now meditation is daily, writing is daily, and exercise is 4 times a week. I think I need to add 3 days of stretching and make all three things (meditation, writing, and fitness), part of my daily routine. A routine I do to start every day, without interruption or procrastination.

M is for Motivation… what are you motivated to do?

Buy one get one half price

I am always fascinated by the way advertising works. Here are a few advertising phrases that I’ll translate into much less sexy terms:

“Buy one, get one free.” -> 50% off, but you have to buy 2!

“Buy two, get one free.” -> 33% off, but you have to buy 3!

“Buy one, get one half price.” -> 25% off, but you have to buy 2!

“Everything in the store 25% off.” -> Our prices are marked up high enough that we can mark everything down and still make a good profit.

It has to be a tough time to be in retail spaces. Unless you are Apple or a handful of other big names, your storefront window must have a sale sign in it. You must highlight the bargains, the best deals you have.

But these signs work. They draw people in, and people leave happy that they got a great deal. That happiness is important if you want your customers to come back.

But did you really need 2 or 3 of that item? You went for a pair of runners, now you have runners and hikers. You wanted a pair of shorts, but have 3 pairs, and you didn’t save 33%, you saved less than 25% because the 3rd, ‘free’ pair was cheaper than the other two you purchased.

A store wants you to buy 2 or 3 discounted items because that increases the overall profit. But how many of that item do you need? If I’m buying socks, a 3rd pair free is likely useful. But if I’m going to buy runners, and my second pair is half off, and because of this I splurged and got a slightly more expensive first pair… I’ll walk out with 2 pairs, but I will have spent a lot more than I planned to spend, and probably won’t wear one of the pairs very often.

Bargain shopping isn’t always a bargain.

It’s better

“It’s better to do less than you hoped, than to do nothing at all.” ~ James Clear, Atomic Habits

Often when we want to get started on something new, we get caught up on how far away the goal is. The goal will never arrive if we don’t start somewhere! So get off the couch and do a 5 minute walk. Do 3 push-ups. Meditate for 1 minute. Write 1-3 lines in a journal. Set your phone down in another room.

I love to write, but for a long time I haven’t been writing much. Now I am writing something daily. It doesn’t take a lot of time, and I feel a sense of accomplishment when I hit ‘Publish’. I start my day with a 10 minute meditation then I write. Recently I have been leaving my headphones on and listening to a song on repeat.

What new habit do you want to start? It won’t start itself, and it won’t continue if you make it too big. Start small, and make it something you can repeat and build on… And I’ll see you here tomorrow after my meditation, for another Daily Ink! 🙂