Author Archives: David Truss

Taking for granted

Leave a reply

A couple nights ago I flushed the toilet and the fresh water looked a light yellowy-brown. I waited and flushed again, it was the same colour. Then I went to the sink and ran it to discover that it wasn’t just a toilet issue but an issue with the water coming into the house. I called the city emergency line and spoke to someone about what was happening, and he asked for our address. Moments later her confirmed that maintenance crews were working on our waterline in the neighbourhood and they were aware of the situation.

He said that what I was seeing was iron deposits, and that I should wait 30 minutes, because the work wasn’t completed yet, then run water for 20-30 minutes and my water would be clear. And he said not to worry, that the water was still chlorinated and safe. It was late, so I waited until morning to cycle the water and it was clear in seconds.

This made me think about how lucky we are to turn on our taps and just expect clean and safe water. I’ve lived in this house for 27 years, and this is the first concern I’ve had about fresh water… and it was a minor issue that was over almost as fast as it arose. Then I thought of so many things we just take for granted:

  • Reliable electricity
  • Food availability
  • Food safety
  • Good roads
  • Hospitals
  • Safe schools
  • Safe communities
  • Emergency services 

The list goes on and on. We live in one of the best countries in the world. We operate from a position where we just expect things to work… and they do. It’s far from perfect, but it’s a marvel that we can go through life not thinking about the safety and reliability of basic services, only recognizing that we take these things for granted when an anomaly happens. Because for the vast majority of our lives we are blissfully unaware of how lucky we are to have not just basic necessities, but comforts of life that we just expect to be there.

How lucky are we?

Monday to Fried-day

Leave a reply

Getting up at 5am to start my routine, then doing a full day of work, I feel like I’ve got nothing left at the end of the day. The only saving grace is that my morning routine is fulfilling, it’s me doing something for me… Writing, a workout, and meditation. Except here I am at 8:30pm already lying in bed, writing instead of reading (like I said I would this morning).

Why? Because my morning routine feels too rushed now that I’m commuting to a gym rather than working out at home. Getting most if not all of my writing done now, in the evening, will make my morning a bit more enjoyable. And that’s a sacrifice I choose to make. My morning routine is the priority I want so that when I get to work, I can be the best I can be at work. And the price? My evenings.

From Monday night to Thursday night, evenings are about recovery. Limited activity, limited thinking. By Friday after work I’m still a bit fried… It’s not an active weekend night, it’s a reset night. Still, I prefer this to waking up later and trying to do things after a full day of work. I’d rather have my evening downtime so that my mornings are energized than not do my morning routine and then pack everything into the afternoon when I’m tired from work.

Energize the mornings, feel great at work, and crash in the evenings. This is what my work week looks like, and it works for me… even if I have to sneak a bit of my morning routine into the evening.

Time to read

1 Reply

I switched mostly to audio books a few years ago and that multiplied the number of books I consumed significantly. As a slow reader with an internal voice that speaks louder than my internal reading voice, I’ve always found reading both slow and difficult. I can, without exaggeration, read and be so internally distracted that when I catch myself and look back I can’t remember anything on the last 3-4 pages.

Audio books are louder or at least more attention-holding than my internal dialogue and I can set the speed to faster than I’m able to read. Audio books to me are like a reading superpower compared to a paper book.

Except, I’ve struggled of late to get started on a book. I bounce around listening to podcasts, and don’t seem to want to start a new book, be it a novel or educational. I also have 2 paper books without an audio version that I’m wanting to start. So, I feel that I need to dedicate time to a paper book. It’s going to be tough because I get a lot of ‘reading’ done in the car, on the treadmill, and generally on the go.

Now I’ve got to juggle in some book reading. The only time I can see doing this is just before bed. I’m struggling with this decision. Do I really want to start yet another routined habit? Yes. No. Yes.

I’ll give it a try. I want more reading time. I’m just not convinced I’ll commit. I’ll know in about 2 weeks.

Uncertainty training

1 Reply

I read a quote from James Clear which has me thinking:

“The ultimate form of preparation is not planning for a specific scenario, but a mindset that can handle uncertainty.”

It made me wonder, what do we do in schools to prepare students for uncertainty?

I mean, do we do this at all? We spend so much time framing the learning, compartmentalizing it, share our objectives, and ultimately knowing the expected outcomes we want. We are actually told this is good teaching.

Outside of playing on a team sport, when in school are we preparing a kid for uncertainty? Furthermore, I’m at a loss for how we would do this? What would a ‘preparing for uncertainty’ curriculum look like?

My point is that in an age where we are dealing with unpredictable weather, unhinged global politics, unknown job security with AI and robotics exponentially intersecting into every job sector, the only certainty thing about the future is uncertainty. So how do we meaningfully prepare kids for their uncertain futures? How do we cultivate this mindset?

From comedy to sad reality

Leave a reply

I first saw it as a joke on TikTok, African content creators making comedic posts about sponsoring needy children in America. I got the humour, Americans not being able to afford healthcare is a serious concern. After growing up seeing ‘sponsor a child’ ads on TV I can remember my parents putting a picture of a kid we sponsored, to help feed and educate her, on our fridge… to see this same sort of thing about a kid in America is clever satire.

Today that satire came to life. Sitting in a hotel room, watching an American movie television station with my wife, we saw an ad with a bald little boy being featured. A voiceover of his mom shared how hard it was to have her child diagnosed with cancer. Then the true purpose of this ad came to life, this was an American hospital asking for monthly pledges to change a young kid’s life. This is no longer comedy, it’s pure tragedy. An American hospital is asking for $19 a month to change the life of a young American child.

It’s no longer a comedic bit… This is the reality we live in today.

Downtown Escape

Leave a reply

Last night 6 of us went to see Moulin Rouge, and we made a weekend of it downtown. The show was wonderful, and the lead singer was absolutely sensational. There were no weak performances, and yet the lead outshined everyone. It’s just amazing to see someone passionately performing at the top of their game… and she was the player of the night.

On top of that we all stayed downtown for the weekend. A staycation in Vancouver, a little rest & relaxation in an otherwise busy month. Just had a hot tub with the boys, and we’ll all be heading to dinner in a couple hours.

A fun weekend escape… and there’s still more to come.

The moment I’ve been waiting for

Leave a reply

I wanted it, but I didn’t think it was going to happen. Last February I wrote ‘Schoolyard rules’ and basically said that unlike in the movies, in the real world the bully usually wins.

I ended that post saying,

“If we want to see the feel good movie ending, it won’t be one hero protagonist saving the day. No it will be the band of brothers all standing up to the schoolyard bully. It will be all the kids in the schoolyard saying, ‘That’s enough!” It will be his own little gang deciding that he’s not worth supporting. It didn’t happen the first time around, maybe it will happen this time… but I’m not betting on it. I’m looking around the school yard and I just don’t see enough kids banding together, and I definitely don’t see enough adult supervision.”

Prime Minister Mark Carney’s speech at The World Economic Summit in Davos was a call to action, an invite for a band of brothers to take action. The only question now is if we get the movie ending or if the moment is lost in cowardice… and the bully still wins.

I’m hopeful.

It’s 6am, let’s go!

Leave a reply

We’ve fully reached the stage of finding reasons to go rather than finding excuses not to. I’m not available this weekend to do our weekly walk up the Coquitlam Crunch, so Dave and I met in darkness at 6am to start our trek up the hill.

I’d say we reached this stage a full year ago. It was 2025 that we went from our commitment to doing the climb at least 40 times a year, matching the weeks of a school year, to ensuring we never missed a week. This wasn’t a voiced decision, it’s one we just found ourselves doing.

Now it’s something we just do… And yet it’s a lot more than that!

It’s a chance to to talk, to rant, to seek advice, to share, to listen, to connect.

It’s a commitment to a friend.

We now regularly meet at 6am for workouts anyway, and we often do multiple crunches at a time training for Everesting the Crunch, so to meet on a cold Thursday morning and just go up and down the Crunch once, actually feels like a rest day.

99 Days

3 Replies

Although I’m retiring at the end of the school year I really haven’t been tracking or counting down (yet). But I do have a colleague that is also retiring and he shared with me that yesterday marked 100 work days until we are done. So I’m heading into work today with just 99 work days left. That seems a bit surreal to me.

I know someone who started their retirement countdown with over 2 years left. It worked for him, but my mind doesn’t operate that way. I have always struggled with being excited through anticipation. I used to fake it for my kids, but they are grown up now. I get a tiny bit excited for a trip the night before, but only after my bag is packed. Even if I’m packing a bathing suit to go sit on a beach, the excitement level isn’t that high for me.

Sometimes I feel like I’m missing out by not getting excited in advance. I see excited anticipation in others and wonder what gene I’m missing that I don’t get the same feeling. I know that comparison is the thief of joy, but there is something ironic about joy being the thing you are lacking in your comparison.

99 days. Down to double digits. It seems short. There is still so much to do. And yet, I’m ready. Maybe not excitedly ready, but I’m ready.

Cardio time

Leave a reply

Last year I wanted to do one Max VO2 training session a week, but I really did it only every 2-3 weeks. This year I’m committed. My activity of choice right now is 8 one-minute sprint intervals. My interval timer is actually set to 1:15 high intensity followed by 1:10 low intensity. The reason for the additional time is that it takes about 13 seconds to get the treadmill from my low intensity walk, at a 3.4 pace, to my high intensity pace starting at 8.6 and progressing to 9.4 on the final one (I skip 8.7 for those that are math inclined).

I thought I’d share the stats from my watch for the last 3 runs, and then I can see how I compare closer to the end of the year.

January 11, 2025

January 14, 2025

January 20, 2025

I’m actually not trending well, with my average and overall heart rate going up, but fluctuations are to be expected and that’s why I decided to share the last 3. There are two big challenges ahead. The one I have control over is dedicating to doing this at least once a week. The one I have less control over is seeing how quickly I can get my heart rate to recover and if I can decrease my overall peak heart rate doing the same activity… this challenge should be achieved just from the commitment to do this weekly.

Time will tell, and the data doesn’t lie.