Author Archives: David Truss

A Turn for the Worse

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November 12th 1985 was a cold, overcast day in Toronto. I was taking the bus home from school during my Grade 13 year. For those who do not know, Ontario had a Grade 13 for anyone planning to go on to university.

I had to take two busses home and my transfer happened a half block away from North York General Hospital. My grandfather was at that hospital after a minor heart attack and I thought maybe I’d go see him before going home. Then I got to the corner and decided that I’d just go home, I had just visited a couple days before.

I went to the bus stop and waited about 8-10 minutes for the bus before seeing it approach the traffic lights behind me. I remember at that very moment changing my mind, thinking ‘I’m right here, I should visit him’. So I walked back to the street corner as the bus approached and passed, and I made the turn to go visit Papa T.

When I got to his hospital room I could hear him having an argument with my Granny about some minor thing. He was shaving, sitting upright in his bed with an electric razor, my granny holding a small mirror for him. We had a nice visit and I felt great walking back to the bus stop afterwards.

The next morning I was at the school for a 7am swim practice and about half way through I felt awful. I couldn’t describe the feeling then but dread would be the term I’d use looking back now. I actually stopped my set and got out of the pool. What made me feel worse was that a couple other kids stopped and joined me on the bench. I was team captain and this was a bad example I was setting, but I just couldn’t get myself back into the pool.

For first class I had a spare block and so did my friend Kassim, who had a car. I had never done anything like this before but I looked at my buddy and said, “Kassim, I feel awful, can you drive me home?”

He didn’t. He convinced me to stay. It was Grad Photo Day and we both had appointments for our photos before lunch. “Stay until lunch”, he said, “Get your grad photo and if you still feel like this at lunch I’ll take you home.”

He convinced me to stay, despite how awful I felt. I couldn’t understand the feeling I was experiencing because I didn’t feel sick, and so missing photos didn’t make sense.

I made it to lunch and went to the cafeteria. I remember pulling my lunch out of the brown paper bag it was in as I sat down. I was saying to Kassim and a couple other friends we sat with, “I don’t know what’s wrong with me, I just feel like shit.”

Then I sat down, looked up and locked eyes with my sister peering across the cafeteria. This was unusual to say the least because she went to a different high school. We locked eyes, then with no explanation I simply said, “It’s my grandfather.” Then packed my lunch back into the bag, got up and walked out with my sister.

This made no sense to my friends, but they had met my sister so knew I was going home. I don’t remember my sister saying anything to me. I don’t think I signed out. We got into my uncle’s car and drove straight to the hospital.

I wish I didn’t go. I wish my last memory of Papa T was of him shaving and talking about what he was going to do after getting out of the hospital, not him on life support with his eyes taped shut because he was leaving them open, unblinking. But I got to say good bye to his body after he was already gone.

I went home and wrote this poem. I haven’t seen it in over 25 years, but my sister is helping my mom declutter before moving, she found it, and sent me a picture of it.

For Motel (Mottle) Truss, my Papa T:

A TURN FOR THE WORSE

–

The earth did not stop moving

The wind did not stop blowing

The leaves did not stop falling

But tears filled my eyes

–

Oh how insignificant life can appear

When right before your eyes

One is being lost

But you can only sit and watch

–

He is in the best of care

He has his loved ones hoping, praying

But he has taken a turn for the worse

And we can only await his departure

–

I only hope that until his final breath

The thoughts of Family

Override the pain

And I hope that our memories

Will overide the tears

–

By David Truss, Nov. 13, 1985.

Access to Accessories

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Never let access to accessories be a barrier to using technology. On a shelf in my office I have a small plastic set of drawers with every kind of adapter a teacher or student would need. I also have an extra 3ft and 15ft HDMI cable. I’ve got chargers for laptops and phones. I’ve got a few different dongles. And for my online teachers, I’ve got extra laptops pens, which make marking easier. Your mouse broke? I’ve got you covered.

In all honesty, the overall cost of these items is not exorbitant. Sure, there are a couple small items I’ve purchased that haven’t been used, but most of what I’ve purchased has needed to be replenished at some point. The difference is, that I’ve pre-ordered them and there is zero delay from the time a teacher or student needs an accessory to the time I’m able to provide a replacement, instead of there being a delay of access while I purchase the replacement.

To me this is a low bar, providing access to accessories is an easy hurdle to jump when you’ve already got the accessories waiting when they are needed.

A day on the river

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I spent the day fishing with a buddy. It started out misty and looked like it might rain. It did rain, a light drizzle for all of five minutes, then it actually got sweltering hot.

I caught a big chinook that was well past its prime and a smaller pink salmon. It’s always great to catch fish on a fishing trip, even if they are not keepers.

Today I was reminded of what a wonderful part of the world we live in. Gorgeous fall weather, beautiful scenery, salmon on their final run, eagles, and even a seal who was fishing just like we were.

An old adage says, ‘A bad day of fishing is still better than a good day at work’. Is there an adage for a good day fishing? That’s the adage I need.

It took almost 9 years

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15 years ago yesterday I started my second blog, this one called Daily-Ink. The plan was to write my ideas down on paper, in a leather bound book, and then photograph the page and upload it to the blog. I admitted in my first post that I held no promises because my previous attempt at taking a photo a day for a year failed. And sure enough, this idea didn’t last long.

It was September 28th, 2010, I was living in China at the time and starting my second school year there as principal of a foreign national pre-K to Grade 9 school. I did a few posts in my intended format then ended up using the blog when I wanted to share experiences and ideas that didn’t fit onto my Pair-a-Dimes for Your Thoughts blog, with the byline: Reflections on Education, Technology and Learning. I used Daily-Ink to track some articles I found interesting, comments I made on other blogs, to participate in a MOOC, and to record some travel experiences.

It was almost 9 years later, July 6th, 2019 that I decided I was actually going to write daily. I said on that day,

“I’m not getting younger and more than ever, NOW is the best time to start.

I tried over a decade ago, now I’m going to do it – a short daily blog.”

And here I am, 2,276 days later, still writing daily. So, whatever it was that you were planning to do but didn’t get around to it… it’s not too late. It’s not too late to write a book, to get in shape, to pursue a different career, or take up a new hobby. The years missed matter less and less once you actually get started.

Mantra: Avoid injury

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I know that ‘Avoid injury’ is not a great mantra because it’s a negative… a thing to steer clear of, rather than to head towards… but ‘staying safe’, or ‘being smart’ don’t get the same message across. So, ‘avoid injury’ is the thing I’m going to focus on in the gym, and in general, as I continue my healthy living journey.

I’ve been on a health kick since the start of 2019. Back then, I was the heaviest I’ve ever been, about 6-8 pounds heavier than I am now, and my belly was where I wore most of my excess. I dropped just over 25 pounds in less than 2 years, then I started putting some muscle on. I’ve put back on almost 20 pounds of muscle, at least half of which came in the last year and a half.

The biggest difference in the last year and a half has been my protein intake. I started having a protein shake for breakfast 4 years ago, but then instead of seeing that as enough, I started thinking of that as an insufficient base, which I supplemented daily. For example, adding a protein bar at work, and/or 2 hard boiled eggs as an extra boost in addition to my regular meals, and eating more protein at meal time.

This extra protein plus my efforts in the gym have really paid off. So much so that my wardrobe has needed an upgrade. I’ve still got quite a few things that used to fit me loosely, which now look like something I’m trying to show off in. The long sleeve sports shirt I’m in now used to fit over top of another shirt, now it’s tight on me without an undershirt.

My new goal has been to add 6-8 more pounds, reaching my all time high again, but with a totally transformed physique. Oddly enough, I think I’m at my ideal weight now, but I still have back issues and I’m always one stupid move away from a debilitating injury that will prevent me from working out for an extended period. So I work on strengthening my back, stretching, massages, and hot tubs to keep injury at bay. Because it is likely that some time in the next 10-15 years I could have an injury keep we away from the gym, and I could lose muscle then… never to get it back since it gets harder every year to add more muscle. I figure if I’m 6-10 pounds heavier in the next year, a bad injury scenario would set me back to this weight, rather than something less than ideal.

Thus my mantra, ‘avoid injury’. I like to lift heavy weights, but going too heavy could mean an injury. I like to play sports, but going too hard in a game like basketball could put me out of commission. I often have an ache in my back that makes me have to take it easy, pushing hard while my back hurts is a really bad idea that could leave me injured and out of the gym and off the treadmill for weeks or even months. Avoid injury.

This summer I was visiting a friend and we scootered to a pizza place for dinner. We had a couple beers with dinner and I told him we were going to Uber back. I don’t scooter much, we didn’t have helmets or any protective gear, and I wasn’t going to chance scootering home with my poor tolerance to alcohol these days. 10 years ago, there’s no way I would have made this decision, I would have scootered back to his place, but the wisdom of ‘avoid injury’ was on my mind.

The biggest issue with this mantra isn’t that it’s negative, it’s that it always has to be playing in my head: When I wake up feeling sore before a morning workout; when I go to do something as simple as tossing a ball or frisbee around; when I’m on a ladder; when I want to add weight to a set I’m doing in the gym…

The name of the game from this age on is staying healthy, staying strong, and keeping injuries at bay. Ultimately, avoiding injury is now a lifelong goal. I’m simply not going to bounce back from an injury like I did 20+ years ago, and so my mantra will keep me feeling as young as possible for as long as possible. Avoid injury!

Seasonally affected

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I officially felt it today. The weather has turned and it has definitely affected me. I had a great morning, doing my Coquitlam Crunch, I came back and enjoyed a hot tub too. But I felt the gloom. It was a shadowless afternoon and I felt closed in.

Could it be from spending my first 10 years in Barbados? A place where there is almost always 12 hours of sun. A place where even the rainy season means a day mostly of sunshine and a series rain clouds passing over for 5 minutes to an hour before the sun shows up again… and where it will even be raining above while the sun still shines from beside the clouds?

It usually takes until late October or early November for me to feel clouded-in, but today I felt it. It seems my sunny disposition relies a bit on the sun, and I’m going to have to make an effort to brighten up inside my house and work to compensate for the lack of sun outside.

Echoes getting louder

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The idea of being in an echo chamber suggests that you are surrounded by people, media, and information sources that are constantly reinforcing your beliefs… without exposing you to opposing viewpoints unless arguing convincingly against those viewpoints.

I’ve discussed, a number of times, my concerns that we are living more and more in dichotomies, where sides or factions are so diametrically opposed, no one can hold a stance in the middle without being considered to be from the opposing viewpoints. You either live in an echo chamber or you live in an opposing echo chamber. Because the voices in the middle are ‘othered’ and so not part of any stance or view that can be snuck into an echo chamber. The voices of the middle don’t get to echo. And so the echo chamber narrows, keeping exposure to outside views securely away.

The echoes are getting louder and it’s getting easier to listen to them and nothing else… which ultimately leads to us spewing the same echoes we hear. So it’s up to us to seek diverse stances and viewpoints. It’s up to us to actively extend our searches for reliable information. And it’s up to us to question the reliability of our sources. It’s either that or voluntarily be just another voice echoed in a narrow echo chamber that seems to be getting further polarized and biased every day.

Chat GPT chose us

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A couple Fridays ago the school got a call from a guy with an Australian accent. He said he was a former school principal who now does consulting promoting progressive and innovative practices in schools. He said he knew it was short notice but he was in town and could he visit our school. I had time at the end of the day and invited him to visit. He Uber’ed in from Vancouver and after a quick chat we had a tour, talked to a couple teachers, and a few students.

He got to see the tail end of a presentation and hear some of the feedback our students gave. Then we went back to my office for a chat. So I asked him, how did you choose Inquiry Hub as a school to visit? He said that he has been working with AI recently and he had put all the factors he looks for in progressive schools, and asked Chat GPT which school he should visit. Inquiry Hub came up.

I find it fascinating that we were found this way. A chance encounter created by an LLM.

Still waiting

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For a few hundred people, if not thousands, September 23rd brought profound sadness and disappointment. At first that they were perhaps left behind, then that The Rapture did not actually happen. They were convinced that this was the day that believers were going to ascend to heaven. Many believing in an actual, physical ascension, where bodies float up into the air and up to a heaven in the sky.

For many of these disappointed believers, the lack of this actually happening will not alter their belief that this will one day happen. The date was wrong but they will still believe that it is coming. In fact, they will still believe that it’s going to happen in their lifetime. That is one of the common themes of ‘end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it’ prophecy believers… the idea that this is the end times and that they will be witnesses to The Rapture.

It reminds me of those workplace signs about how many days since the last injury. Like those signs, there is an inevitability that the next injury will come… the next rapture date will come. Except that for the end times believers, the lack of the event only means they guessed wrong. A new date will be chosen by some influential follower soon.

When belief is that strong, even the people who had unwavering conviction that September 23rd was the day, even the ones who prayed and believed they were given godly confirmation, will not falter in their faith. Instead, there will be a quiet period of recovery from disappointment, than a few months or years from now some false prophet will make another prediction, and the cycle will continue. After all, the testing of faith produces perseverance… It isn’t faith if it can’t be tested and still hold.

And so blindly forward the faithful will go. A lack of evidence is not proof of anything other than to test faith. Excuses are substitutes for apologies, and misinterpretations are easy to justify, be they made by others or felt by individual believers. The message is the same, The Rapture is indeed coming, it’s just the signs were not clear as to when.

And so some time in near future we will reset the sign, the one that says how many days since the last promise of rapture… and the cycle of waiting will continue.

Adversity and memory

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Last year we took students camping and it poured rain for most of the night. I recorded the sound of the rain from inside my tent around 2am and it sounded torrential. This year the weather was perfect: Hardly a cloud in the sky, warm, windless, and rainless.

I just came back from the trip. It could not have been better. It was well planned, the weather cooperated, and the students were awesome. The only kid ‘issues’ we had the whole trip, and I use the term ‘issue’ loosely, was speeding the slower kids up on our walks. That’s hardly an issue to deal with. There were zero discipline issues.

Looking back on the two trips, students getting flooded out of their tents, and getting soaked to the bone on our walks last year are things our students think back fondly on. The adversity didn’t ruin the trip, it emboldened the memory, and our students look back fondly at it.

Here’s the interesting thing. If I had to choose, I’d absolutely prefer the amazing weather we had this year over camping in the rain again. But for the students that went both years, I’d bet that in a few years they will remember the stormy night much more than they’ll remember last night.

No one wants to voluntarily go through adversity, but sometimes adversity is what galvanizes a fond memory. And getting wet on a camping trip, while uncomfortable, isn’t trauma inducing. In fact it can be character building. All that said, isn’t it interesting that I’d still pick a night like last night over a repeat of the rain storm we had last year.