A Collection of Daily Wisdom by Dennis Sylvester Hurd since September 2003.

A former student sent me this as an email attachment a number of years ago. The document was in Chinese and English and I am not sure of the origin of this test. The MS Word file said to select the shape below that appeals to you the most.


1)   2)  3) 

4)  5)  6) 

7)  8)  9) 

It continued by saying: "These shapes were developed by a psychologist. They have been tested worldwide, over a period of several years. As we received feedback from our research, we carefully adjusted the color and/or form of each shape, then tested again, until we were left with a highly successful set of shapes. These represent nine basic personality types."

To find the results, click here to go the entry of December 4th on another page.

Labels: sharing

It's wet and spitting snow outside. On a day such as this, it's nice to think about the warm, green days of summer. Here's Jay in Portland, Oregon.

Labels: Portland, road trip, weather

Just like yesterday, I get an opportunity to hear 8-10 minute oral presentations today. When I teach COMM 0004, I have my class research a real business in the Vancouver area and present their findings. They must use primary research by creating questions and arranging for an interview. They`re encouraged to pick up brochures and other written materials too.

The preparation includes formulating an introduction, organizing the speech, producing useful transparencies, and pulling all the discussed points together with a meaningful summary. The usefulness of this work crosses all language skills and proves useful when planning good technical writing.

I am seldom disappointed with the results. There are always many new and interesting presentations. I'm lucky to have a job where I get paid to learn new things!

Labels: BCIT, students

Last night was the annual strata council meeting for this building complex. This is when condo owners get to vote on the following year's budget and any changes to rules. This year it was my turn to attend and I'm totally convinced that people don't function well in meetings.

It took us two, complete hours to agree:

that $12,000 be moved from one contingency account to a reserve fund. No new money was spent; it was just changing from one pocket to another. Three cheers for accounting procedures.

we'll add a bylaw to charge $100 as a move-in fee to defray maintenance cost on repair to wall scratches, painting, and elevator maintenance.

that seven candidates who offered to sit on council could serve in seven vacant positions.

Just think, in this amount of lost time, I could've cleaned the house or started work on the great, Canadian novel.

Labels: government

The photo below shows the near-permanent standstill of traffic on the major artery into Vancouver. This was taken on the TransCanadian Highway while heading down the hill in Surrey towards the Port Mann Bridge. The bridge should absolutely be'twinned' to allow increased traffic flow.



Vancouverites without cars try, quite successfully, to keep the area 'under-highwayed'. I can't believe in such an environmentally-conscious city, citizen's cannot fathom that we shouldn't keep cars lined up and idling on a major highway. When traffic isn't moving, every car is getting zero kilometers per liter. British Columbia is poised to be Canada's gateway to Asia; however, without proper highway infrastructure the economy is choked. We can't move items east when nothing's moving at all.

Labels: opinions, Surrey

Blog entries aren't written as direct contact with a known person. I'm sure that even friends and family often forget to keep up. Having the text on a web server makes it accessible but not necessarily accessed. It reminds me of that age-old question: If a tree falls in the forest and there's nobody around to hear it, does it really make a sound?

Out of the blue, last week, I got a polite message from Mr. Dusan Vondracek in Slovakia. He encouraged me by saying, "Your work helps me to discover far-away region and it helps me to learn English too. So I can say I combine pleasantness with usefulness. I wish you patience by this unpaid work." Upon thanking him via email, he wrote a few particulars about his life.

I answered, "I like how this technology can be used in ways which help people understand each other better. It can all be reduced to ones and zeros, but it has provided new ways for people to interact. These people would have had no previous way to impact each other ... in the past."

Labels: email

Digital photography is a powerful technology. It's more than just switching from chemically-based processes. A digital picture is essentially free to shoot. What this means is people no longer have to shoot on special occasions only.

It's not only possible but feasible to shoot images every day. I've been doing this and sharing them since July 1st in 'My Daily Picture Parade'. Some may think, yeah ... but why take a picture of the contents of a dishwasher? I'll put it down to the intoxicating effects of 'external memory'. I wish I had photographs of all plates and bowls I've owned in my life.

Nothing, when it comes to me, is too unimportant to have a visual record of. In fact, the value of personal images only seems to increase as years pass.

Labels: Daily Picture Parade