New Year Reflections

As 2013 starts and I hide from the cold outside, I thought it would be a good time to reflect on how I'm doing on renewing my love affair with Montreal.  At the beginning of 2012, I declared I would:

• Embrace winter (if it ever comes).  Go skating, tobogganing, maybe even snowshoeing - at least once a week.  Find and enjoy more tea or hot chocolate.
• Embrace summer (when it comes).  Find and enjoy new terrasses.  Eat outside on my own. Finally attend a show at the Just For Laughs festival.  Spend time at the Jazz Festival.  Have a picnic in a park.  Watch the fireworks from Jacques Cartier bridge.  Find and enjoy more shop-made ice cream.
• Walk or ride my bike just for the fun of it.  I got a bike bell in Amsterdam.  I should use it :)
• More solo street photography (outside of my monthly MEETin photo walks).
• Go to Jean Talon or Atwater market every week.
• Go to the Botanical Gardens (my favorite) or some other park once a month.
• Visit museums.  We have A LOT of museums in Montreal and admission is inexpensive.  Hmmm... I really should get an Access Montreal card.
• Explore more restaurants, especially in my own neighbourhood and around work.
• Wear fashionable clothes.  Yes, I like living in a city where I can dress nicely.  Now if I only worked in an industry that didn't think I had a job interview or a hot date every time I dressed up...
• Update this blog once a month.

How did it turn out?

• Winter was really mild, so instead of enjoying winter sports, I walked to work a lot more often than I normally would, went back to yoga and discovered hula hoop.  
• Summer was consumed by work, so I didn't accomplish any of the items on that point.  Still, a lot of the remaining points did get done over the summer, so I still found ways to enjoy what Montreal has to offer.
• I cycled and I love it every time.  I even did a cycling event with MEETin and inadvertently toured Verdun.
• Solo street photography... Once I got my new compact camera, I carried it with me so I could take a lot of impromptu photos as I walked around town.  When it warms up again, the camera will go back in my bag.
• We signed up to have a box of locally grown organic fruits and vegetables delivered to the office every week, so I had no need to go to the markets every week.  We got a lot of vegetables, enjoyed a healthy summer diet, and learned a few new recipes along the way.
• From late May through late September, I grabbed my camera and spent an afternoon a month at the Botanical Gardens.  I have even more photos of the beautiful flowers and plants.  My only regret is that I missed photographing the Fall foliage in October.
• For the first time, I participated in Museums Day and discovered two fascinating museums on Parc Jean Drapeau.  As that day wrapped up, I was already planning what I wanted to do in 2013.
• Not at the same level as 2008, but I did explore some new restaurants, mostly in my neighbourhood.  Memorable meals include a succulent lamb tajine at Au Tarot, excellent fish with Jerusalem artichokes at Bar et Boeuf, and fabulous game at Le Club Chasse et Pêche.
• Slowly my wardrobe is getting updated...
• Only missed July and November updates on this blog.  Not bad, considering I hadn't regularly updated this since 2008.

My goals for enjoying Montreal in 2013 are pretty much the same as last year.  Instead of writing journal posts summarizing what I'm doing, I'll work to make this blog more interesting. I would also like to do more travelling this year.

Happy 2013 everyone!

Wish This Was A Summer Vacation Report

Yesterday, a friend posted "It smells like autumn."  NOoooo! It can't be!  I'm not ready for the summer to be over yet.  Where did it go?

My friends and family already know the answer.  Yes, once again, I spent too much time at work.  Once I am able to talk about the project I'm working on, that statement won't seem so sad.  It's an important project, so the effort is worth it and the results are good so far.

In my free time I did manage to enjoy the summer somewhat.  So far, I've kept my promise to myself and visited my favorite place in the city once a month: Montreal Botanical Gardens.  I am particularly delighted with my July visit when I decided to photograph lilies in the evening.  I had never visited during lily season and the flowering brook garden was in full blooming glory.  Below are a few of my favorite shots.

A couple week later, I bought my new toy: a Canon S100.  I've been frustrated with my old point-and-shoot camera for quite awhile and I don't always want to carry my DSLR with me.  So, as a reward for successfully passing an important milestone on my project at work, I invested in my photo habit.  I'm carrying that camera with me everywhere and I'm gradually figuring out all the features.  It's almost as good as my DSLR but WAY more compact.  It can also do HDR, but I haven't had an appropriate subject to try it out yet.  Of all the creative modes, I'm enjoying the toy camera and the spot color modes the most.  

The major festivals came and went.  Now that I no longer work beside Place des Arts, I didn't even walk through the festival area and take in the free concerts/activities.  At least D and I went to see one of the fireworks shows from La Ronde.  It was our anniversary, so we got the gold seats and it was worth it!  We also had a great afternoon at La Ronde... it didn't (really) rain! 

Finally, just this weekend, I got out on my bike!  I hosted a MEETin event to cycle along the Lachine Canal.  It turned out to be a bigger adventure, resulting in a tour of Verdun.  The weather was amazing! Since I was the only person with a camera, I did not take any scenic pictures along the way.  Still, it was a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon.  Every time I go cycling, I wonder why I don't do it more often.  Montreal is a great city for cycling, especially when the weather is like it was yesterday.  

Hmmmm... maybe I should start a photo blog instead?  I would probably post more often!

Where did my work/life balance go?

So, my December post didn't actually get done until the end of January. Now my January post is being written mid, er, late February... er, early March (the date of the post is when I started writing). Last year I would have lots of adventures in and around Montreal to share and explain the relative silence on my blog. This year, work has once again taken over too much of my life. Why do I keep winding up here?

Annual performance evaluations consumed a big portion of December and January. The process started late and everything was done in a rush. Considering I have over 35 employees and I take evaluations and compensation seriously, the rush was intense. We're also feeling the global economic backdrop, so the raise and bonus discussions were not exactly fun. Most of my team understood why the raises and bonuses were small, but there were a few who didn't. Fortunately, I have enough "it could be worse" stories from my days in the telecom downturn.

The final stretches of shipping a game are usually intense. Strategic planning and organizational changes at the same time don't help. I think my current role has changed two or three times over the past few weeks. Add in a meeting or two from hell and it's been a fun February.

Probably the most interesting work adventures were the customer visits. One visit prompted a lesson in Japanese business etiquette. The lessons were interesting, especially since the coach perfectly represented Japanese culture. The visitors wound up being a mix of traditional Japanese and the Japanese gaming culture. There was no way our coach could have covered the latter.

As much as my life has been absorbed by work, I have had some fun. Friends have entertained at home mainly, so there have been fewer restaurant outings. I was introduced to a good Indian restaurant downtown and a great Mexican restaurant around the corner from my place. The MEETin gang went ice skating in the Old Port and snowshoeing at night on Mont Royal. Just this past week, a few of us attended a play in an old church literally behind the building where I work. The German language group has been getting more active, with a movie night in January and a great e-meeting in February. Yes, resurrecting my German has been messing with relearning French. I do have a great French teacher right now and I'm starting to think my French is making some progress.

When things get stressful at work, I like to have something fun to look forward to, so I'm planning a vacation in May. I'll write more details as things firm up. Meanwhile, my mission in March is to get my life more in balance. Wish me luck!

Just a Blog

With the passing into a new month, and having a weekend to myself for the first time in two months, I thought it was a good time to update my blog. Then I started thinking about what has been going on in my life since Thanksgiving. It's been less than a month since my last blog post, but it feels like much longer.

Insanity at work continues. I once worked with a project manager who compared long, difficult projects with giving birth to a baby. I think it's a perfect description for several of our projects at work. The biggest "baby" is taking most of my time and energy and trying all of our patience. It's confirming my long held belief in the importance of adequate project planning and having simple processes to deal with and communicate change. For anyone who has complained about their project manager, please imagine what life would be like without one at all. Just think about what it would be like to work in chaos. For those of you who work with one, go give your project manager a pat on the back. Mixed in all the project fun was, I kid you not, a 40 minute debate on the word "yet" in one of our soon-to-be-published company values. I know words are important, but c'mon, that was unnecessary.

On a better note, my social life is active and I'm trying to pace myself well.

D and I did a road trip to Cobden, Ontario to see his sister and family. I was looking forward to a drive filled with Fall colours. Instead, it was pouring rain. We had better weather on the drive back, but many of the trees were bare from the storm. On the way up we stopped by La Gantoise in Lefaivre, Ontario to pick up some Belgian Blue Beef. I was told about this place from xtreme foodies friends, who also wanted me to pick up orders for them... which they forgot to place. Oh well, I now have a couple of exceptional roasts in the freezer. It was great to see the in-laws, which I haven't seen in about 3 years. The kids are growing up fast!

Halloween is big in Montreal. Two sets of friends, one from Kingston, one from Kitchener, came up for the event. Halloween night I had two events - a birthday party at a great cocktail and tapas place called L'Assommoir, followed by meeting the out-of-town friends and D at a goth club on St. Laurent. Both were costumed events and I amazingly pieced together a French Maid outfit from clothes already in my wardrobe. (Yes, pieces of it were from another costume.) The festivities didn't end with Halloween night. The next day, L wanted to go to mass at St. Joseph's Oratory (pictured above), which gave me an opportunity to see that Montreal landmark. That night was a French Cassoulet dinner followed by accompanying the out-of-town friends to another goth club on St. Denis. Unfortunately, I was so tired from staying out late the night before and the rich cassoulet dinner that I had to call it a night relatively early. After two nights dressed in black for goth clubs, I didn't wear any black on the Sunday.

I watched the US election at home and was happy to see that my American friends had a real choice this election. I was also happy to see that America was ready to elect Obama. He has a big job ahead of him...

One MEETin friend is heading back to Nairobi this week so a few of us had a send-off dinner at a local Vietnamese restaurant near Jean Talon market. We all hope A gets another UN project here in Montreal and we see her here again soon.

Last night I hosted an Alumni event - a university hockey game against a long time rival school. I'm happy to say that the few Alumni and students in attendance were good ambassadors for my Alma Mater. Unfortunately, I can't say the same about the host students, particularly those from the Rugby team. I remember what it's like to be a student, cheering for your team and putting down the other team, but these students only put down the other team and rather viciously at that. It just made them look bad.

Whenever I log in to update my blog, I check out the latest Blogs of Note. I'm adding a link to the One Minute Writer blog. I highly recommend my writing friends check it out. Now I just need to follow my own advice...

Whoosh! Part 3 - The rest

In between my social and photographic adventures, regular life still happened. Why bother writing about regular life? Partly to give a more balanced view on my adventures. Partly because some interesting stuff still happens in regular life.

Adventures in bureaucracy continued. I did finally get my health card at about the same time I got a cheque from BC MSP. Seems that Quebec canceled my BC insurance when I applied in Quebec, so I was effectively without insurance for about a month. Good thing I didn't get sick. It's taking longer than expected to sell my car, so I had to change my car insurance. Car insurance is MUCH less expensive in Quebec. I think gas is about the same - currently $1.34 - $1.44 per litre, depending on the day.

One of our benefits at work is in-house language lessons. The lessons are 90 minutes twice a week over lunch. I was put in the beginners French group, but I'm very happy I'm not a complete beginner. We had one guy from the UK in our group who didn't speak a word of French. Poor guy - he was completely lost and gave up after two lessons. The French I learned in high school is quickly coming back, but I still haven't found the confidence to have even simple conversations outside of the class. Our HR technician gave me a good piece of advice: practice my French with friends (or strangers) over a few drinks. I may try that at some point. In one meeting I unintentionally said a number (vingt-quatre) in French, and everyone got excited that I said something in French. To give some context, meetings typically go back and forth between English and French, but a lot of software development vocabulary is in English with "er" (pronounced "ay") at the end. For example, to check in code (into Perforce) is "checkiner le code" in French. My team has been kindly adding French vocabulary and phrases to my white board. It recently got a summer addition: les gougounes.

Speaking of work, our big move the last Friday in May was impressive... and chaotic. It was the biggest move ever done. We moved pretty much everyone on the 6th floor - about 100 people - in under an hour. It was kind of like July 1 - the day when most of Montreal moves. I was moving out of my office while equipment was being moved in. Everyone was helping everyone else. IT and facilities did a great job making sure we had the connections and power we needed. We're in an old building that has "character". The real test was the following Monday morning when my entire team turned on their computers, build machines and Devkits. No brown outs, but our air conditioning was definitely being challenged. In addition to the move, IT even managed to get the computer set up for our new employee starting Monday. Not bad for a relatively small company.

The rest of work is... work. I can't really say anything specific. The experience has similar elements from all the companies I've worked at before. It's a bit like deja vu that way. The major difference is that my team has over 30 people. I only have one project manager and I have lead developers instead of team managers. As a result, I'm very busy dealing with the day-to-day. It's going to take awhile to coach the team to where they need to be so I can spend more time on what I should be working on.

After over three months of no communication, I got an email from the ex last week with a bit of an update. I won't get into any detail, but I learned something from my less-than-positive reaction. It's a good thing.

So, that has been my life outside of my more exciting adventures. Just like everyone else, it's not just about exploring a new city and a bunch of social outings. Other stuff happens, too.