tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62515942011-04-21T10:51:58.727-07:00Armchair Urban PlannerKeith's home on the webKeithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09568766926346178180noreply@blogger.comBlogger191100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6251594.post-1150046159457983082006-06-11T10:13:00.000-07:002006-06-11T10:15:59.456-07:00This is easily the most disappointing phone card I've ever used. I think it lasted 20 minutes.Keithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09568766926346178180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6251594.post-1142965706454666772006-03-21T10:24:00.000-08:002006-03-21T10:28:26.466-08:00Vague work descriptions never serve any manager.People who actually want to work find them frustrating, because it is so difficult to actually achieve their goal.People who don't want to work love them, because they can do nothing but can still argue that they achieved their goal. Bottom line: The firmer the work description, the better off all team members are.Keithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09568766926346178180noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6251594.post-1115951377165506572005-05-12T19:29:00.000-07:002005-05-12T19:32:18.226-07:00My worldview, is, apparently, this.You scored as Cultural Creative. Cultural Creatives are probably the newest group to enter this realm. You are a modern thinker who tends to shy away from organized religion but still feels as if there is something greater than ourselves. You are very spiritual, even if you are not religious. Life has a meaning outside of the rational. Cultural Creative81%Keithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09568766926346178180noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6251594.post-1113350383400277952005-04-12T16:54:00.000-07:002005-04-12T17:00:54.946-07:00Back in January, I saw a blog post that said: Outrageous!"Michigan Firm Won't Allow Smoking, Even On Employee's Own Time"Is this real? I'm shocked! Is this even allowed?I'm having trouble expressing just how wrong this is. It's a violation of freedom... it crosses a line. First smoking, but what next? Obesity? Disease? Disability? Genetic predisposition or family history of health problems? Go Keithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09568766926346178180noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6251594.post-1107829686861687432005-02-07T18:27:00.000-08:002005-02-09T23:08:57.326-08:00So, a high school installed some solar cells.
http://www.blinddrop.com/chs_solar/
They raised $47,000 to do it. It will generate 3.3 kW.
3.3 kW * $0.06/kwh (a typical power price) * 12 h of sunlight a day * 365 days/year = $867.24 per year in power savings.
Which means it will take 54 years for these panels to pay for themselves. I’m guessing the panels’ life span is not more than 15 years.Keithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09568766926346178180noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6251594.post-1106458990320040812005-01-22T21:31:00.000-08:002006-12-22T20:39:39.010-08:00I'm sorry I'm so late to post. I'm going to make a quick rant about Office Christmas Parties, and then zoom right into the new year.
I have never been to an event so clearly designed to encourage greed than my office gift exchange. This is the popular event where everyone brings a gift, then we select gifts one by one. The 'entertaining' catch is that you can steal from someone else instead Keithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09568766926346178180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6251594.post-1103507259960747582004-12-19T17:46:00.000-08:002004-12-19T17:47:39.960-08:00Have you ever had Navan cognac? It is incredible.
That is all. Keithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09568766926346178180noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6251594.post-1103267539360327942004-12-16T23:00:00.000-08:002004-12-16T23:12:19.360-08:00I got 88% on the FE exam! That's much better than I thought I'd do. Hmmm, maybe all the studying did work out.
Everybody in Edmonton (all 45 of us) who took the exam passed. Average was 83%. You can do it too. Keithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09568766926346178180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6251594.post-1103089006719321722004-12-14T21:33:00.000-08:002004-12-14T21:40:00.533-08:00People like to look back at futurists of the past and laugh at their funny predictions. I know I do.
What is strange, though, is how many people will then turn around and take modern futurists at their word. Even when they continue to be wrong (where’s the guy who, in 1997, said, ‘In 5 years there will be 2 kinds of companies: Those online, and those out of business’? Lots of stores are stillKeithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09568766926346178180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6251594.post-1102052587192087432004-12-02T21:25:00.000-08:002004-12-02T21:43:07.193-08:00What do you want? Part 1
I am unsure how to deal with suburbia-haters. I generally agree - suburban landscapes are wasteful, expensive, and unhealthy. Believe me, I know - I'm from Calgary. But the problem is, the chorus of those who hate suburbia is drowned out only by the shrieks of protest over the demolition of 'historic' buildings downtown to put up new housing developments. Groups Keithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09568766926346178180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6251594.post-1101739052690753502004-11-29T06:36:00.000-08:002004-11-29T06:40:13.453-08:00Believe it or not, you're in demand! Keithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09568766926346178180noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6251594.post-1100890367226298792004-11-19T10:52:00.000-08:002004-11-29T16:07:10.786-08:00Reflections on Privitization: Part I
It’s been several year now, so I think we now have sufficient hindsight to have a look at privatization of the phone companies and decide whether or not it was a good thing.
Remember way back: We had Alberta Government Telephones, who would hook up your line and provide you with long-distance service. That was about it, but it worked well. Then we turned Keithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09568766926346178180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6251594.post-1099670448525446612004-11-05T07:59:00.000-08:002004-11-05T08:00:48.526-08:00The FE exam is long behind me, and I’m a bit disappointed to admit I don’t have as much to say on it as I thought I would. Leading up to the exam, I had some choice words to explain how I felt about it, including the descriptors “formula monkey” and “useless test with no value”. But it wasn’t that bad, and the questions themselves did seem to be designed to test understanding, not just pure Keithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09568766926346178180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6251594.post-1099024879003476372004-10-28T21:40:00.000-07:002004-10-28T21:42:15.543-07:00One more day until the FE exam is over. My thoughts on it to come soon after.Keithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09568766926346178180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6251594.post-1098837494451192382004-10-26T17:37:00.000-07:002004-10-26T17:38:14.453-07:00Election Epilogue: What happened to this guy? How does someone get no votes? I'm pretty sure even I would get about 10.
Keithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09568766926346178180noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6251594.post-1098765534501513732004-10-25T21:31:00.000-07:002004-10-25T21:45:11.416-07:00I heard city planners are considering building a bridge, essentially extending Whyte Avenue all the way across the river to 149th street. This will relieve a lot of the congestion along 82nd/114th, they say.
But a better question is, why is there so much traffic down 114th? There's not a whole lot to the north of it, since you hit the river right away. It's true that the University is a majorKeithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09568766926346178180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6251594.post-1098161791341019492004-10-18T21:48:00.000-07:002004-10-18T21:56:31.340-07:00This is why I hate politics. No matter what the outcome, there's so much emotion wrapped up in elections that there's never any satisfaction at the end of it all.
My candidate won by a landslide, but all I could feel was a hollow feeling as I watched a teary-eyed Bill Smith concede the election. I have no doubt that he loved the job and loves the city, but I had no choice but to (help) take Keithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09568766926346178180noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6251594.post-1098022724069176762004-10-17T07:09:00.000-07:002004-10-17T07:20:46.316-07:00Mayor Bill Smith, like every politician, is running his re-election campaign out of an abandoned building, the old bank on 82nd and 109th: Does anybody else find it ironic that he's running his campaign out of a building that is vacant only because of his council's stranglehold on new development on Whyte Ave? It serves well to remind me why I'm not voting for him.
Keithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09568766926346178180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6251594.post-1072503040137625472004-10-14T21:25:00.000-07:002004-10-16T19:27:02.050-07:00I opened this to give me somewhere to put out my thoughts, instead of just filling people's inbox.
First real post soon!
Keithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09568766926346178180noreply@blogger.com