I tried desperately to find other things to fill my time but alas, I was not successful. I am one of the masses of individuals from work starring in a holiday wishes commercial at a local television station. It was a fun group and our fearless leader nailed the commercial on the first take – but flubbed the second one – but I do wish we’d been able to say “Merry Christmas” instead of “Happy Holidays”.

I know, I know. We’re a multi-cultural country and company. Happy Holidays covers a multitude of religious and non-denominational celebrations that take place in December and January. We have diversity dinners and holiday parties, greeting cards and special occasion clothing, new years festivities and Santa.

As a country, we’ve worked hard to remove any semblance of Christianity from the holiday season. I don’t identify with most Christian faiths, but a tiny grinch in me misses hearing the phrase “Merry Christmas” in schools, stores and at the workplace.

Which leaves me wondering, am I the only one?

Technorati Tags: commercials, happy holidays, merry christmas, grinch

Working in a global environment exposes you to amazing and wondrous things – like great trips to foreign countries, new learning experiences, cultural norms, languages, different foods, work ethics, etc.

There’s a dark side that only seems to rear it’s ugly head when I’m desperate for sleep – conference calls at 0 dark 30 in the morning.

As someone living in a Mountain time zone area, I’m used to getting up early in the morning in order to make an early morning call scheduled in Eastern time. Usually, the time zone with the most participants gets first priority on determining what time the calls occur. Sometimes that means that I’m getting up for a 5am call on a Monday morning. At other times it means working in the middle of the night.

The reality is that a global work world means that not all participants are based in North America. Ergo, I’ve got a series of 11pm-1am conference calls on my calendar in a few short days. Hopefully no one expects me to share coherent thoughts during the session.

Wish me luck!

Technorati Tags: conference calls, time zones, sleep, global work environment

The rough and tumble past of the western sections of North America is well known. Gold rushes and gunslingers. Sarsaparilla and trail rides.

Calgary, home of one of the most famous Stampede‘s in the world, has a new bylaw in the works. It seems that even as the city grows to become a white collar mecca, it’s got a large portion of the rough and tumble left in it.

There’ll be no fighting, spitting or peeing in public, unless you want the city to relieve you of hundreds of dollars in fines.

And don’t even think about defecating, loitering, putting your feet up on public benches or carrying a visible knife around.

These proscriptions aimed at “regulating public behaviour” are expected to become law in this sprawling Prairie city when council gives a new bylaw final reading Monday.

The shame of it is that there would be no need for this bylaw unless these behaviours were occurring on a semi-regular basis. I’d like to say I’m surprised that a city would feel the need to draft this bylaw but then I’d be lying through my teeth.

What is the world coming to?

Technorati Tags: Calgary, bylaw, rudeness

It’s that time of year again. Fenris is developing a second coat to keep her warm and is shedding it nearly as fast as she’s growing the extra fur. Some pet parents are able to keep their clothing relatively fur free but we’re not nearly as lucky. I’m wearing almost as much fur as she is these days. I’m sure I’d make a fortune if I could figure out how to create a fabric that repels dog and car fur.

Technorati Tags: dog, fur, pets

In an effort to expand my minuscule Learning & Development library at home, I’ve been culling through lists of recommended books, checking out chapters and purchasing those I find on sale. The problem is, it’s not often that a decent educational title hits the sale racks at amazon.ca or chapters.ca. I’ve added cheaper ones to my Christmas wish lists and cashed in my airmiles for Chapters gift certificates.

Now I remember the most costly part of university education – the texts. Sure, tuition and residence cost thousands of dollars, but so did a lot of the textbooks I purchased over the years. To fill a single shelf on my bookcase with the seminal volumes in Adult Education, Instructional Design, and Cognition, it would likely cost more than $1500. The cost of the books is staggering which probably explains why this new section of my library has been mostly ignored.

The more I think about it, the more disheartened I am by modern education. I’m set to start classes (once again) for the next piece of paperwork I’m pursuing in a few months and am having a hard time developing any real motivation to do any pre-reading. The degree has a number of required courses which hold no interest for me. You’d think that after three times through the hoops I’d have more transferred credits to fall back on. It seems to me that too little consideration is given to prior learning and too much emphasis is placed on pre-determined formal curriculum.

In my perfect world, I’d be able to pick and choose the courses I want from a variety of universities and be able to slap them together to create a degree that meets my needs and interests. I’d be able to skip the required advanced math course and parlay my previous life as a web designer and programmer into transfer credits for the mandatory computer courses.

It’s disheartening. Quick, someone motivate me 😉

Can anyone say catch-22? In order to continue developing and expanding my understanding of the field I work in, I need some contact with others in the field in a formal learning environment. In order to move forward in my career, I need the additional pretty pieces of paper that indicate I know what I’m doing (despite the fact I’ve been doing it for years).

Have I mentioned that I have to juggle work and school? This expands a four year degree program into six years as a part time student – assuming I complete classes all three semesters. I work full-time in the field so I’m not about to quit my job to speed up the process. Ah, the traditional adult learner – no motivation to learn without a WIIFM statement and motivated by a current need to expand my knowledge and skills for work purposes…

Technorati Tags: textbooks, cost of education, adult learning, prior learning, instructional design, ID, ISD, informal learning, motivation