Greetings from 53.5° where overnight on Saturday the ambient air temperature and the air quality index were both 10. A temperature of 10°C overnight in July is not great but it is not the end of the world. An air quality index of 10 however is as close the End Times as I want to experience, thank you very much. 

The portion of the week where I was not encamped indoors to avoid the smoke was spent preparing for the new campaign I start running tomorrow, cycling, drinking a few beer, and reading a few books. In other words, status quo. 

Reading Pile:
I finished two books this week, or at least I would like to take credit for two books. I finished one for sure, if the definition of book is something with an ISBN or ISSN.

Book #23 for 2021 was "The Rosewater Insurrection" by Tade Thompson. This is the second book in the Wormwood series, and I read and commented on the first book two years ago. In summary, an alien lifeform has inhabited a large area in Nigeria and the relationship with the humans and other fauna and flora is complicated. In some ways, the - let's call it terran - flora and fauna benefit greatly from the alien presence. However, there are reasons to be cautious of course, and Insurrection deals with the debate of how to live with, or exterminate, a clearly superior and uninvited guest. Thompson has created a super series with this trilogy, one that is bursting with ideas. I highly recommend picking up the first book in the series, simply titled "Rosewater" and then diving into Insurrection as well. I will try to have less time between the second and third books in the series than I did after reading the first. 

The second book is called a "pamphlet" by the author, which is, I think, a deliberate nod towards the pamphlets used to spread liberal, socialist, and communist ideology. Since it was not published and cataloged formally, I was unsure if I should count it as a "book' in my reading for the year. Given the thought-provoking ideas and the list of words I had to look up, I decided that it was sufficient to classify as a "book" so I created a book manually in my LibraryThing account. 

Book #24 for 2021 was the previously mentioned pamphlet, "At the end of the world, plant a tree: Considerations for the end of Human Time" by Adam Greenfield. This was something that akin to my reading of Peter Fleming's "The Worst is Yet to Come" in 2019. The pamphlet was an overview of how so many of today's trends spell an end for the interconnected and global world that has only existed for a few decades and only for a small percentage of the world's population. There is, like anything that Greenfield writes, a lot to unpack.

It is said that depressives have a clearer view on the world, something that Greenfield mentions in his pamphlet. Greenfield lays out a stark assessment of how broken our societies and global structures are and how COVID has exposed the flaws and problems, again reminding me of Fleming's argument that things are only going to get worse. 

There are positive points in the pamphlet, like the power of community and skill-sharing, and the long-term selfless act of planting a tree. There is symbolism in the act of planting a tree where it is a "gesture toward a time yet to come, even when you know full well there is no future you or your survivors will inhabit or give name to". 

So, get out there, plant a tree, commune with your fellow humans, share some skills. And buy the pamphlet as a fundraiser for Libreria which looks like a super cool bookstore. 

Cycling Update:
I finished another segment this week, pushing past Grenfell, Saskatchewan. There is a surprising amount to say about Grenfell on Wikipedia given that it has a population of roughly 1,000 people. My personal reason for including Grenfell as the end of a segment is that two of my great-grandparents are buried there. That would be my father's mother's parents. 

Here is the updated progress chart. I am going to push to complete the rest of the next segment so that I can push into Manitoba. 

New Music:
There were three entries on the Music Finds playlist for this week. First up was a new single from Kurt Vile, an artist that I have discovered since subscribing to Tidal. His latest, "Run Run Run" is energetic and catchy. Looking forward to the rest of the upcoming album. Next was an album by the Drug Store Romeos. I must be honest and say that I did not like this album. The songs that had promise on first listen either changed tone halfway through or dragged on too long. For example, "Building Song" starts out strong and really hooked me in, but then it seems to just repeat for four minutes. 

Last up was the latest album by the Wallflowers, "Exit Wounds". I read somewhere earlier this week that "One Headlight" by the Wallflowers might be the best song from the 90s, and I think even if it is not, it is one of the best. The new album is good with "The Dive Bar in My Heart" and "I'll Let You Down (But Will Not Give You Up)" as the standouts. I think this is an album that needs a few solid listens to to really appreciate. 

New Coffee:
Over the last month, I went through my first bag of coffee from Rogue Wave, a roaster from here in Edmonton. I heard from two sources that Rogue Wave is a "passion project", where the owners are in business to continuously improve and offer products that continually innovate and evolve. With an ethos like that, I thought I would try it. 

I picked up a Guatemalan been called Bendición. This started out well, with the beans being quite fragrant. The first few cups were good, maybe not what I was looking for, but definitely good. Here is a picture from one of the first espressos I brewed with it. 

You can see the nice dark beans and the rich espresso. Unfortunately, the beans got worse quickly. By the end, the beans were dried out and brittle and the output was weak and lacking much flavor. I do not think I did anything wrong as the beans were stored in an airtight glass container in the fridge, exactly like every other bean I use. I will go back and try another bag from Rogue Wave and will ask them if I did something wrong. If that second bag has the same issue though, that will be as far as I get with them. 

New Beers:
Two new beers this week, both with a bit of personal connection. 

First up, Beer #780 was the Lavender Sour from Moody Ales in Port Moody, BC. This was a good sour, with a nice lemonade flavor and a wonderful aroma from the lavender. I know the owner of the farm that supplies the lavender, so that's a plus. (3.5 / 5)

Second up and coming in as Beer #781 was a beer that caught my eye since it literally has my name written all over it. I was not going to pass up the Robert wild ale from Trial and Ale, another local brewer. This is a wild ale, meaning that the yeast culture is captured from the air and not from a commercial yeast. As a result, there is definitely some wild "funk" in the taste, which is the defining characteristic of wild ales. 

The naming of this beer came from the production process where the brewers were calling it "Blood Orange Brett", with Brett being short for Brettanomyces, which is the yeast. So Blood Orange Brett shortened to BOB and then was formalized for production by extending BOB to be Robert. 

As for the beer, it was good. Dry and sour with some citrus. I am not sure it was worth $18 but this is an intriguing brewery, and I am definitely going to try more from them. 

New Words:
There were quite a few new words from the Thompson book but those are in my Kobo and I do not feel like getting them out right now. As a result, all of these words are from Greenfield's pamphlet.

conviviality
[kənˌvivēˈalədē]
NOUN

1. the quality of being friendly and lively; friendliness.

solipsism
[ˈsäləpˌsizəm]
NOUN

1. the quality of being very self-centered or selfish.

commensal
[kəˈmensəl]
NOUN

1. a commensal organism, such as many bacteria.
2. (ecology). (of an animal, plant, fungus, etc.) living with, on, or in another, without injury to either.
3. (sociology). (of a person or group) not competing while residing in or occupying the same area as another individual or group having independent or different values or customs.

Greetings, readers from Day 192 of 2021 and the six thousandth day hot day in a row. {1] You can tell I am not cut out for the heat. It is only 23°C right now and I am still complaining. 

There are a few updates this week - some Kickstarter news, and then the regular sections on cycling, music, beer. I also created a first post on the Gaming section. The larger post about the logistics and technology of the game I am running is still in draft but is coming. Let's dive into the updates.

I have mentioned Kickstarter many times in the past year. I have backed several different initiatives and this week I was happy to jump on another. Drive is a great science-fiction web comic from Dave Kellett and I already own hardcover versions of Volumes I and II of the series. Kellett has a campaign out to fund Volume III and one of the stretch goals has a challenge to get 20 supporters to send in pictures of Drive-inspired spaceships made from Lego. My younger daughter and I created one decked out in Pride colors, with a little Duplo for fun, and a Benny minifig just because. Here is a picture of what we submitted for the Kickstarter challenge.

I highly recommend Drive if you are interested in space opera science fiction and are looking for something with some humor and levity to offset heavy themes. The link to the web comic above has all existing Drive comics for free, and I encourage you to support Drive and Kellett via the Kickstarter.

Cycling Update:
I finished off Leg #7 and am now moving past Regina and on to Winnipeg. This is the longest leg of the cross-Canada virtual tour so far, coming in at 595 km. I picked four stops along the way. Here is the updated progress chart. 

Here are some fun facts about Regina courtesy of Wikipedia. It is of course the provincial capital of Saskatchewan, making this the third capital of the virtual tour after Victoria and Edmonton. As of the 2016 census, there were about 236,000 people in the metro Regina area, and it looks like people from Regina are called Reginans. Continuing with my fascination of air service to the communities I travel through, the Regina International Airport has an IATA designation of YQR. And in what might be the most truthful statement about Regina, the Wikipedia article says Regina "is situated on a broad, flat, treeless plain". Yes. Yes it is. 

New Music:
It has been several weeks since I last had a New Music update on this blog. For some reason, music just fell by the wayside, but I have had much more time for music in the last fortnight. Enough so that I have a playlist to share this week. 

My Music Finds playlist for the week of July 5 has three albums. The first song from each album is copied to the start of the playlist to give you a feel for the album and to create a better album collage. 

First up is Mô’Ti Tëi with the album "Well Dressed Exile: Second Humming". I heard the song "Crying Shame" on FIP, the French streaming radio station. I love the music in this album, and often but not always love the singing. Think blues and jazz with clean sounding guitar.

Next was an album that showed up in my Tidal feed, "Half Mile Harvest" by The Teskey Brothers. I am surprised I had not heard of this band before this week. I immediately loved "Pain and Misery" and stopped to listen to the entire album followed by their 2019 album, "Run Home Slow". Great vocals and music, with a slow blues and Americana feel. 

The last album was something I heard on SiriusXM and then dug into on Tidal at home. The band Mudcrutch is the initial line-up of what became Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Petty pulled the band together in 2008 and released two albums before he passed away. The eponymous 2008 album is pretty good. "Scare Easy" was the song I heard on SiriusXM and is the best on the album. Imagine the Heartbreakers with a bit more of an Americana sound. Definitely worth listening to especially since their 2016 album is one of the last recordings from Petty. 

New Beers:
I tried two new beers and one mead this week, bringing my lifetime check-ins to 779.

First up was another from Banded Peak Brewing. Banded Peak is an amazing brewery. I have now checked in seven of their beers with an average score of 3.68. The lowest was their Pilsner at 3.25, which is a style I do not often enjoy, and which likely caused the score to be lower. Beer #777 was their Chinook Saison Farmhouse Ale. I was a bit skeptical going in as I have not enjoyed a lot of the farmhouse ales I have tried, but this one grew on me. It is dry, like it says on the label, with a nice crackery taste. I found myself commenting aloud to myself that I liked it, which must be a good sign for the beer if not my sanity. (3.75 / 5)

Continuing my sampling of East Coast beers is Beer #778, the Déjà Moo Milk Stout from Garrison Brewing in Halifax. This was a really good stout, but I thought it was more of a cappuccino stout than a milk stout. More lactobacillius would have given it more creaminess, but still it was definitely drinkable. (3.5 / 5) On a related note, this was the two hundred sixtieth brewery I have checked in a beer from. 

Last up was the mead. Fallentimber Meadery makes some great meads and so I was looking forward to their Traditional Mead. #779 was clean and not too sweet, with a very slight level of carbonation. Unlike some meads that can be almost thick to drink, this was light and easy to drink, but maybe too much so. I missed the slickness of their other meads and the intense flavor. It was well done, but not as stellar as others from them. (3.25 / 5)

[1] Slight sarcasm.

Greetings from the end of a beautiful week at 53.5° north latitude. We are at Day 465 of the COVID-19 pandemic and are nearing the end of the major restrictions here in Alberta. Of course, lots of places in the US are already allowing mass gatherings without masks. 

I mean, Ralph Macchio, right? You have to think that he was an Isles fan back in their heyday, so semifinal hockey must be pretty sweet for him. And just a note for the make-you-feel-old file, Macchio turns 60 this November. 

​Life seems like it will turn back to normal this summer, and if not normal, then at least much less restricted. Several of my friends already have their second doses and the invites for get-togethers are starting to flow. I cannot say I feel comfortable with this though. I have spent so much of the past 465 days in this chair in this basement office that getting out and getting together seem alien to me. The INTP is strong in this one, unfortunately. 

The summer equinox will be about thirty-five minutes after I post this entry, and the nice weather and summer mindset have slowed me down. There was a bit of reading with one book finished this week, and one segment finished on my bike, and that is it for updates. 

Reading Pile:
​I was able to finish one book this week. Book #20 for 2021 was the 1971 spy classic from John Le Carré, "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy". I grew up on spy novels, constantly grabbing Tom Clancy or Len Deighton novels as soon as my dad finished them. Reading a spy novel set fifty years ago with antiquated technology and an adversary that has not existed for thirty years might seem to be a recipe for disaster. However, in the same vein as my comments about "High Fidelity" two weeks ago, good stories are independent of the technological era in which they exist. Rob Fleming making a mixtape or George Smiley ordering accomplishes to use a miniature camera to photograph pages from a book are just actions the characters do. The technology does define the story because the technology is intrinsic to the era the story is set in, but in neither case does it diminish the story. That is because the story is each case is so damn good. 

I am not sure what to say about this book. It was really good. I enjoyed it. I am glad I finally read it. You should do the same, but if you do, focus on the relationships between the characters because that is where the real story is even if the Soviet Union and tiny cameras are fictions in their own right. 

On a different note, this first copy of Tinker I bought was in about 1994. I never read it for some reason. I moved so much in those days that I packed it away and forgot about it. A couple years later I picked up another copy and eventually realized I had two copies. After that, I bought every copy I found and had six or seven at one time. I finally gave them all away except one. The image below is an homage to how many versions I have owned over the years. 

Cycling Update:
I made a bit of progress on my virtual cross-Canada tour. I was able to get four rides in this week but only 68 km. That was good enough to finish the segment between Davidson and Chamberlain, Saskatchewan. It will be interesting to see if any location on the virtual tour is smaller than Chamberlain. The Wikipedia entry mentions a population of 90 people in 2016, up 2.2% from 2011, but that was down from 108 in 2005. Next stop: Moose Jaw.

Here is the updated progress chart.

Greetings from 53.5° once again. This was a quiet week from an accomplishment point of view, but there was still progress was made in some areas. Two books are nearly done, one fiction and one non-fiction, but neither was completed this week. There were two new beers this week, and there were two cycling segments completed, the first completing the sixth leg of the cross-Canada virtual tour. It will be a short update, so let's dive in.

Cycling Update:
There was some good distance put in the saddle this week, and I was able to blow past Saskatoon and make it about a third of the way to Regina. Let's close off the sixth leg from Lloydminster to Saskatoon first. 

I have always liked Saskatoon, but I bet I have not been there for twenty years. It reminds me a lot of Edmonton, with the river central to both cities including the fact that both cities were amalgamations of towns separated by that river. Plus, both cities are blessed by wonderful old hotels, with the Hotel MacDonald in Edmonton and Bessborough in Saskatoon. 

Continuing with my pattern of listing fun facts about each stop based on the Wikipedia page for the location, Saskatoon is estimated to have a population of over 335,000 making it the largest city in Saskatchewan. Saskatoon is served by an international airport (IATA code YXE) named after Canada's thirteenth Prime Minister, John Diefenbaker. 

​Once I passed Saskatoon, I started on Leg #7 of the cross-Canada virtual cycling tour and headed toward Regina in a somewhat circuitous route. There is a direct route to Regina, but I thought I would virtually head to Moose Jaw because I have never actually been there. The first segment on the way to Regina was to Davidson. Davidson clocks in at just over 1000 people, but it has its own Wikipedia page, and, fun fact, Davidson claims to be the home of the world's largest coffee pot. Much like I reported about Rosetown a couple weeks ago, Davidson has an airport that does not rate an IATA code, but it has a Transport Canada Location ID of CJC3.

Here is a look at the updated progress chart with Leg #6 completed. 

New Beers:
The first beer this week was from a favorite Alberta brewery, Troubled Monk. Coming in as Beer #770, their Juicy Gossip New England IPA really grew on me. I am growing a bit tired of "juicy" beers, however, this one had enough body to taste like a beer and not just spiked juice. (3.75 / 5)

The second beer was enjoyed 40 km into a windy and hot ride, so it was super awesome! I am confident though that it will hold up to scrutiny in less parched conditions. Beer #771 was the Nebali Hazy Pale Ale from Longroof Brewing. When we stopped in today, with masks on, the owners said they incorporated in 2019 but just opened their location seven weeks ago. I will definitely be back as the location is bike and dog friendly (don't really care about the dogs, TBH, but you know it does imply an easy-to-like vibe). I also like how that little wasteland area of tier three light industrial buildings is getting a real shot of inspiration from Longroof and their neighbors. 

Greetings from 53.5° north latitude. I took last week off since it was a long weekend, and the three days were filled with relaxing. In the other days of the fortnight, I finished a couple books, tried a couple new beers, and gave a talk for public sector leaders in Australia. 

The talk was only fifteen minutes long, but I think the material hit the mark. I used the time to explore a way of looking at the value of your Security Information and Event Monitoring (SIEM) tool through a Knowledge Management lens, and then using the knowledge coming out of your SIEM to structure metrics. I will write that out in detail and post it on the Security and Risk section of this site. 

Okay, time to move on to the regular sections.

Reading Pile:
I was able to finish two books in the last fortnight. Book #16 for 2021 was "Where Good Ideas Come From" by Steven Johnson. ​This was an interesting read for the rigor it put into understanding the genesis of good ideas, and for providing insight into what we can do as individuals or in our organizations to foster the development of good ideas. 

One theme from the book was the power of the public sector and the amazing advantages bestowed on society by people focusing on motives other than profit. In parts of the book, Johnson refers to government as a platform, much like any other platform a given age builds from. The argument Johnson makes implies that capitalism would not succeed without some non-market driven platform because the majority of the innovations in the last two centuries come from academia or the public sector. Once those ideas are in place, capitalism can, well, capitalize on those ideas. 

Looking at the innovations that were directly spawned by the public sector, it is clear numerous private sector success stories innovations in the technology industry would not have been possible without the public sector. The obvious examples are the Internet and Web, but also include DNA / RNA, Aspirin, and even suspension bridges. 
​
The corollary of this though is that ideas and processes of the private sector should be left there, and not thrust on the public sector. 

In other words, not every problem is best solved by the market. In fact, Johnson identified the "fourth quadrant of innovation" which is categorized as non-market driven initiatives driven by a large network of individuals. 
​​
Johnson states in the closing paragraph of the book that it is possible to create and foster an innovative society regardless of where we work. This statement helps anchor me in my decision to spend half my career to the public sector.

The second book this week, and Book #17 for 2021, was "Ringworld" by Larry Niven. This was one of those books I bought years ago and kept waiting for the perfect time to read. Given the influence this book had on science fiction since its debut in 1970, my desire to ensure I was "ready" is understandable.

Unfortunately, there really is no good time to read Ringworld. The book was sexist and in some cases just gross. There were latent and overt rape comments, and females without a purpose beyond sex. 

I have read a few books by Philip K. Dick and always went away loving the IDEA of the story without loving the story itself, as Dick is not much of an author. In a way, Ringworld left me with a similar feeling, except for the fact that Dick is a better author than Niven. (Granted that is not fair because my sample size of Niven writings is n = 1, but I do not recall any cringing when I read any of Dick's works.)

Cycling Update:
My individual rides are enjoyable, and I am happy with the distance I am logging overall. However, I have moved into a different mindset now, where a 10 km ride does not seem worth the effort. This issue I find now is the lack of time on most days to fit in a two-hour ride. 

In the last two weeks, I did finish the segment to Rosetown and almost made it to Saskatoon. I should be well on my way to Regina after this upcoming week, but as you can see from this image, I do not have a route planned past Saskatoon.

Not a lot of fun facts on Rosetown on its Wikipedia page beyond the fact that its motto is "The Heart of the Wheat Belt" and there is an airport servicing the area that is apparently not significant enough to warrant an IATA code.

New Beers:
There were three new beers this week, but the Alley Kat one was a six-pack so do not let the low numbers fool you. 

Beer #764 was the Holsten Premium lager. I recently had Holsten's Festbock and Maibock, and both were better than this so-called "premium". This was a very thin lager with some active carbonation but no foam. Reminiscent of Budweiser. Draw your own conclusions from that comparison. (2.75 / 5)

Next up and coming in as Beer #765 was the Mangolorian from Alley Kat. Combining mango and the super popular Mandolorian was a clever pun that should have not made it all the way to production. Mango is not a great adjunct for beer IMO, but even so, this suffered from not having enough mango flavor. Sorry Alley Kat - love you guys, but just not this beer. 

Rounding out the trio of disappointing beers for this fortnight, Beer #766 was the Glitter Bomb Hazy Pale Ale from Phillips. I should not be surprised about not liking a Phillips beer, given that I did write last summer about how underwhelming I find them. Glitter Bomb was overly foamy and tasted more like a glass of grapefruit juice than a beer. It was not terrible by any means and was the best of the three this fortnight by far, but it was not great either. 

New Words:
Two new words this week, both from the Johnson book on good ideas.

expurgate
[ˈekspərˌɡāt]
VERB
(expurgated)

1. remove matter thought to be objectionable or unsuitable from (a book or account).

obsequies
[ˈäbsəkwēz]
NOUN

1. funeral rites.

Greetings from 53.5° north latitude after a summer-like week with temperatures in the 20s. Very nice, indeed, but of course, it is only May so days with cooler temperatures are an inevitability. Check out the weather forecast below - high of 8° on Wednesday. That is not much warmer than an average refrigerator.

There is a consistent and pervasive macho and even masochistic work ethos in all technology groups that I have been involved in, and the people I know working in the larger technology hubs like San Francisco and Boston would echo my comments. 

Counter to that ethos is a growing body of research pointing to the futility of long hours. The most prominent is likely the Stanford study that showed a marked decrease in productivity once a work hit 50 hours in a single week. There are also some firms advocating for shorter work weeks, as noted in this Harvard Business Review article. In addition, the Ryan Holiday book "Stillness is the Key", a book that I finished and commented on last week, argues that long and frenetic hours are completely counter-productive to long term innovation. Taken to the extreme, working long hours can seriously imperil your health and the Japanese even have a word specifically for "overwork death" - karoshi 過労死.

Compare and contrast the research to the 996 model in China. 996 is shorthand for working from 9:00 to 9:00 (21:00), six days a week. 996 is not something I heard of before this week, but it it is not surprising. I do not think there is much difference in the success model of Jack Ma's Alibaba from Jeff Bezos's Amazon - work hard and long. 

996 has come under criticism a few times. It seems that every two years there is renewed interest in the concept, and the interest does seem to be tied to deaths of workers. As reported in Fortune earlier this year, Earlier articles such as this 2017 Wall Street Journal article or this 2019 BBC Worklife article highlighted the issue. Forbes said in 2019 that China should move to a model of "work smarter, not harder". (No seriously, the article says that. Check it out - first paragraph, last line. That is such a cliché that countless images have been created with that phrase, but there is a point to the trope even if it seems incredible that it would be used in an article on Forbes.)

Now one cannot downplay the incredible growth China has experienced and the vast proliferation of giant Chinese technology companies. I am also not downplaying cultural differences and how different individuals will assess their personal situations. I am merely arguing that this is not a sustainable model. But as long as there are enormous successes stories like Huawei or Alibaba are often the justification for such grueling hours. In the BBC article quoted above, Alibaba's Jack Ma is quoted that 996 "is a huge blessing" because that is how his success was possible. ​

It is worth noting that this is not isolated to China. Pick any successful technology firm anywhere in the world and there is a good chance you will find the same mindset.

Reading Pile:
I was able to finish one book this week. Book 15 for 2021 was the thoroughly enjoyable "The Girl Who Could Move Sh*t With Her MInd" by Jackson Ford. This story about a young lady trying to live a normal life while burdened with psychokinetic powers had a few stunning twists and multiple out-loud-gasp moments. I heard about this book from the weekly newsletter from Orbit Books and I am glad I did. I will definitely check out the other books in the series. 

Cycling Update:
I was able to log 98 km in the saddle this week. I was planning on spending a couple hours this morning to crank out 40 km to close out two segments in the current leg, but instead I spent a couple hours riding 20 km of single-track and multi-use trail with my younger daughter. That is a perfect trade in my books. 

So this week I was able to close out the segment to Biggar, Saskatchewan. I visited Biggar with my family as a kid of maybe 10 or 12, and still remember the town sign saying "New Your is Big, but this is Biggar". 

I do not recall anything about Biggar beyond the sign, but Wikipedia has a few interesting facts. First, it is the birthplace of Sandra Schmirler, aka Schmirler the Curler, the skip for the 1998 Olympic Gold Medal curling team. Second, it was the closest urban center to where Coulten Boushie was murdered. 

​Below is the updated progress chart. It is unlikely that I will finish the Lloydminster-Saskatoon segment in the upcoming week, but it is possible. 

New Beers:
There are seven beers to log this week, but before you call for an intervention remember that is over two weeks since I did not enter any last week. I stocked up on singles from the local Wine & Beyond a couple weeks ago, and their selection of singles that I had not tried was pretty much limited to Germans. That will be obvious as you go through the list. 

Beer #757 was the Holsten Maibock. I still found this to have a bit of silky maltiness even though a maibock is supposed to be less malty and more hoppy. The high ABV did provide a strong taste, but overall this was okay. (3.25 / 5)

Beer #758 was the Radenbach Classic. The guy at the checkout and my contacts on Untappd rave about this but I just did not see the appeal. There was only touch of sour, and a color like a brown ale. The long-lasting lazy carbonation was fun to watch, but the spiky booziness did not give it much flavor. (3.0 / 5)

Beer #759 was the Paulaner Salvator Doppelbockbier. I really liked this one. It tasted like boozy chocolates, with a nice haziness, and very lazy carbonation. Quite a lot of flavor and color for a German beer. (3.75 / 5)

​Beer #760 was another Holsten, this one being their Festbock. I was hopeful that this would be better than the Holsten Maibock since it is supposed to be a traditional bock. Unfortunately, I liked it less than the Maibock. There was no carbonation, but it did have a nice color and was a bit caramelly. There was surprisingly little booziness for the ABV, but really not much flavor either. (3.0 / 5)

Beer #761 was another from Paulaner. Their Munchner Hell Munich Lager had active carbonation, nearly zero foam, but also nearly zero taste. Well constructed, very easy drinking, but also boring and as a result I was disappointed after having their Salvator earlier.  (3.0 /5)

​The only non-German beer to report on, coming in as Beer #762, was the Fernie Brewing Thunder Meadows IPA. This has lots of piney hops, a nice copper haziness, and a long-lasting foam. A solid beer. (3.25 / 5) 

Last up for the week and coming in as Beer #763 was the Schneider Weisse Aventinus Weizendoppelbock, or wheat double bock. Just like the Fernie, this was another hazy copper beauty but this was better. Almost sweet, and you can see the silkiness as it pours. High ABV, low booze burn. (3.5 / 5)

New Words:
Just a single new word this week. 

axine
[ˈakˌsīn]
ADJECTIVE

1. relating to or resembling the axis deer

Greetings once again from 53.5° north latitude. The week was long, but I am not off for a week and very much looking forward to riding, cooking, and likely doing a bunch of cleaning and yard work. 

The entry this week will be pretty light. There was no time in the week to find anything really profound, and I will leave the beers until next week. That will leave two books, a cycling update, and two words. 

Let's get on with it, shall we?

Reading Pile:
I was able to finish two books this week. As I predicted last week, I was able to finish one last week, but it was late Sunday when it got done, well past the time that I finished the blog entry. So technically one of the books this week was actually last week, but in the end it does not really matter, now does it? 

Book #14 for 2021 was "M is for Malice" by Sue Grafton. This is the third book I have read in the Alphabet Series in 2021, and this one takes me over the half-way point in the series. This one was very enjoyable with a bit more of the soft side of Kinsey showing through. I was 90% through the book and I honestly thought the series was getting predictable. I saw through the obvious killer and picked up the subtle clues to the not-so-obvious killer. I had this one figured out, or so I thought. I do not want to give anything away, but we can just say that I was wrong, and surprised. 

Book #15 for 2021 was "Stillness in the Key" by Ryan Holiday. This is a philosophy book, but not so much a self-help book. It presented numerous ideas, theories, and practices, all around pushing you to find time to be calm, relax, and think. There were a lot of references to Churchill, some of which I remember from my recent reading of "The Splendid and the Vile", but also Leonardo da Vinci, Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus, Buddha, and Jesus. It presented a lot to think about, but since it was not a self-help book per se, there was not a formula to follow and implement. I suppose that might be the point of the book - you need to spend the time to think about the lessons in the book to actually put them into action. The need to think and internalize is important, and I think that is part of the message Holiday was imparting. Really good stuff, and likely a book I will go back to periodically to refresh and refocus. 

Cycling Update:
My last milestone report for my virtual cross-Canada cycling tour was two weeks ago when I rolled into Lloydminster. For the update this week, I made it past North Battleford, Saskatchewan and about half way to Biggar. (I am super excited to hit Biggar!) 

Fun facts about North Battleford, according to Wikipedia. The population of the North Battleford area was 17,595 according to the 2011 census, which somewhat shockingly puts it as the fifth most populous area in Saskatchewan. Sadly, Maclean's magazine named it the most dangerous place to live in 2018. Finally, there is an airport close to North Battleford with the callsign of CYQW. 

Here is the updated progress chart of the tour up to the most recent ride. I should have no problem getting to Biggar this week. 

New Words:
As mentioned above, just two new words this week. After the seemingly never-ending list of words coming from the Churchill book, it seems odd to have so few in the last three weeks. 

doxy
[ˈdäksē]
NOUN
archaic

1. a lover or mistress.
   
2. a prostitute.

timorous
[ˈtim(ə)rəs]
ADJECTIVE

1. showing or suffering from nervousness, fear, or a lack of confidence.

Greetings from the confirmed location of 53.5° north latitude. Contrary to the standard definition, this past week was at least 15 days long. It was not a bad week by any means, just long. As I mentioned last week, I was trying to sell a car on Kijiji and that was an experience that I would not wish on many people. It ended up being a successful transaction and I am happy we did not just accept the trade-in amount from the dealer, but it was a lot of work.

From a sociological perspective, we - or at least I - have self-selected a pretty narrow slice of the population to interact with. Middle-class, cycling enthusiasts, technology focused, liberal-minded. Every once in a while, our daughters will make a friend with someone that comes from a family that is on the periphery of that slice. Maybe they will be more liberal, more educated, more religious, or younger, but usually there is enough common ground to build a relationship on.

Selling something on Kijiji puts you on the outside of that slice and exposes you to the entire spectrum of people and humanity. There is no way to be insular as the act of posting that ad blows up the bubble of comfort one has with the self-selected circle of friends. Of the nearly 100 people that I interacted with during the process, I was exposed to many different types of people. Some were quite friendly. Some were less concerned about keeping appointments and obligations than I am. (Trying to be polite.) There were lots of people with writing styles and grammar that suggest recent arrivals to Edmonton. There were lots of people with writing styles and grammar I would consider lazy . There were also a lot of people that knew how to fix up cars, which is clearly not a demographic represented in my current bubble. 

As I said about, the transaction was successful and I was not concerned about the deal turning ugly, but walking away from the deal with a pocket full of brown bills was a bit nerve-wracking. 

Moving on, I was catching up on emails the other day and I came across a newsletter from Studio D that was really interesting (sign up here if interested). I know about Studio D from a Kickstarter that I backed a few years ago. Their Field Study Handbook is an amazing book filled with best practices and templates to successfully do field work pretty much anywhere in the world. I pull it out and flip through it often just to read about topics like In-depth Interview Stages, how to build a Pop-Up studio, and how to pitch a research project. 

In the newsletter, Studio D asks the question "What skills does one need today?". At the top of the list is literacy and numeracy, which seem like obvious choices. 

They suggest that there are five other -acies that one should focus on. 

Four of those five -acies are made up words, but the concept behind them and the need for them seems obvious. I am particularly intrigued by the concept of Artificialacy. Knowing when some corporate algorithm tampered with your entertainment stream is not something I considered before but is something I will look out for in the future. 

As a parent, one focus I am trying to impart on my daughters is self-sufficiency. They should know the basics like how to wash laundry, how to budget and invest, how to plan and manage conflicting tasks, how to cook at least ten different meals. I am also trying to teach them the importance of having a good toolkit. In the past, this meant knowing how to use a hammer, saw, screwdriver, and maybe even a multimeter. Today though, I am expanding the definition of toolkit to include macros and commands in Excel, and coding with Python.  Most of those fit into literacy and numeracy. Thinking about how to incorporate the additional -acies presented by Studio D will be an interesting parenting challenge. 

Reading Pile:
I was able to finish another book this past week, and got half way through another. Book #11 for 2021 was "Lost Light", the ninth book in the Harry Bosch series from Michael Connelly. I really enjoy the Harry Bosch books, but for some reason I have not read one since 2016. In this installment, Bosch is now retired but has not given up being a detective and decides to investigate a cold case from four years prior. 

I really cannot say much more as I risk giving away the plot. Suffice it to say that for this book, Bosch comes to grip with life as an ex-cop, and because he is Harry Bosch, he pisses a lot of people off. Well worth the read if you are going through the series and potentially good enough to read without reading the first the first eight books in the series. 

Cycling Update:
This week was for good for cycling and my cross-Canada virtual tour, with just over 100 km in the saddle. In addition, I closed off the final two segments of the current leg between Edmonton and Lloydminster.

With that leg complete, I now move into my third province on the virtual tour. This next leg between Lloydminster and Saskatoon is a decent length of 411 km. At my current pace, I will be able to complete is by early June. 

Fun facts about Vermillion and Lloydminster. Vermillion was founded in 1902 and had a population of just under 4,100 in the 2016 census.  Lloydminster is a border city, with a split between Alberta and Saskatchewan. Lloydminster has a population of 31,410 according to the 2016 census, with 63% of the population living in the Alberta portion of the city. This makes sense when I first saw the numbers given the lack of a sales tax in Alberta which would seem to be an economic driver to focus living in Alberta. However, the Wikipedia article points out that the Saskatchewan side of Lloydminster is exempted from the Saskatchewan sales tax so as to not penalize Saskatchewan businesses. 

Next up is North Battleford and then on to Saskatoon via Biggar and Rosetown. 

New Beers:
There are a lot of beers to report this week, but that is because I did not report on any last week. Even so, seven beers in fourteen days is faster than my current overall pace since March 2015 of one new beer every 2.95 days. 

The first beer of the fortnight and coming in as Beer #749 was the Troubled Monk If the Crown Fits Kettle Sour. A ton of pineapple and a very fresh taste. I find kettle sours are often not that sour but this one seemed too un-sour to carry that label. That said, this was very tasty and I could see this beer being a huge hit on a crowded patio some day. Hopefully. (3.75 / 5)

Beer #750 was the Pond Surfer ale from Town Square. I was expecting a more bitter taste based on the color but this was very easy-drinking. A bit of pithiness but not too much and a nice level of malt. Good stuff. (3.5 / 5)

Next up and coming in as Beer #751 was the Albertosourus from Edmonton brewery Campio. Based on recommendations from friends, I went in with high expectations but was disappointed. This one smelled more sour than it was unfortunately. It did have a beautiful color, but I found the fruit flavors were too mixed and muddled. (3.0 / 5)

Beer #752 was the Arcade Glow Pale Ale from Boombox Brewing out of Vancouver. This was a decent ale with a fair bit of hops and some nice crackery malt. I will have to look out for more from Boombox in the future. (3.5 / 5)

The next beer was a complete departure from the standard offering. Beer #753 was the Phillips Zonkey is supposed to be a Brown Ale, which is not something I typically like. For this one though, the first taste was "wow". Very fresh. Added a nice sweetness to the standard muddled brown ale. The ginger has a bit of zing to it for sure. (3.75)

Last up were two beers from Cabin Brewing out of Calgary. I have raved about Cabin of late and was really hoping for another two knockouts. Beer #754 was their Starburst ESB (labeled as a Triple on Untappd). This was very good with the freshness completely masking the high ABV (9.5%). Lots of fruits and a great aroma. Definitely one to pick up and hoard in the back of the fridge away from unappreciative guests. (4.0 / 5) And finally, Beer #755 was their Night Kitchen ('Smores) Imperial Stout. I did pick up some creaminess from the lactose, but not as much as other Imperials. (My reference beer for this style is still the Iconic Milk Stout from Situation.) Overall, this was good but a bit weird. (3.0 / 5)

Note that my numbering on this blog and on Untappd no longer match, and I am not sure why. Untappd has me at 754 beers but the numbers seem to reconcile back to Beer #700. I will dig in and see if I can figure out the issue. 

Greetings from ... somewhere? 

For quite some time, I have opened this weekly blog with something in the vein of "Greetings from 53.5° north latitude". However, this week I became concerned that maybe I am not actually at 53.5°. Take a look at these different results.

These first two come from a Bing search of "latitude of Edmonton". The image below comes from the same search term on Google.

Which is the correct answer? One might be able to account for the difference between Bing and Google because, I don't know, Microsoft versus Google? That seems like a bad reason of course, but doing the math it becomes obvious the difference between 53.5461° on Google and 53.54624° on Bing is small enough to be ignored. (Assuming an average of 111 km as the distance between lines of latitude, this comes out to about 15 m of difference.) Both are clearly well within the city limits of Edmonton and the difference between the two is likely which side of the street you define the center of the city to be. 

To further confound the problem though, the reason I noticed this was because I launched Google Earth for the first time in quite a while and I noticed that 53.5° is nowhere near "Edmonton" when viewed via the lens of Google Earth. The image below is snapped from Google Earth with the latitude line layer overlaid for easy reference. 

Next I checked the Wikipedia page for Edmonton and from there linked to me to this page which linked various different references for the geographic location of Edmonton and has this handy image and table of information.

Looking at this page, I realized my problem - I had mixed my units when comparing the various sources. The Google Earth image is shown in Degrees / Minutes / Seconds, or DMS. You can see from the image above that Edmonton is centered at 53° 32' as that latitude runs right through the downtown core. In Decimal notation, 53° 32' translates to 52.53°. 

So. Problem solved and lesson learned. Without further ado, greetings, and welcome from a confirmed 53.5° north latitude. This week's entry will be a bit shorter than it could be, mainly because I am writing this late on Sunday after having spent most of the weekend trying to sell a car via Kijiji. I will focus on the one book I finished, my cycling update, and the new words. The four new beers this week and writeups about skills, COVID, and cryptocurrencies will be carried over to next week. 

Reading Pile:
I was able to finish one book this week, this one being the second book I have read by food writer and journalist, Michael Pollan. Book #10 for 2021 was "The Omnivore's Dilemmna: A Natural History of Four Meals". This was a book that terrified me with its descriptions of industrial food production. It was not descriptions of what happens in industrial scale slaughterhouses that terrified me, as terrible as that is, and neither was it the descriptions of the dietary impacts of cheap corn, as harmful as they are. 

No, it was the fear of the monoculture that modern agriculture supports that really scared me. If you have ever flown across the prairies in recent years, most of the farmland one can see at any point in a journey is of a single plant. In most cases around Edmonton, it is canola. In others it is soy and corn, with industrial corn production being the focus of much of Pollan's book. 

Concerns about monoculture were not new to me, but Pollan really highlighted the importance of the issue. The vicious cycle of a single crop that requires lots of fertilizer, with no ability for the soil to regenerate and no animals or insects to aerate, fertilize, and nurture it and help it thrive. In addition, modern agriculture is a volume game, so bigger seems better, meaning annoyance like hills and trees need to be removed, and there resulting barren landscape exposes the soil which becomes more vulnerable to wind erosion. Modern industrial agriculture, as pointed out by Pollan, will say this is fine because we can make the soil more viable by pumping more fertilizer into it. However, to use a word Pollan used several times, that is a reductive way of looking at the problem because fertilizer production requires lots of fossil fuels and therefore produces lots of greenhouse gases. 

While reading Pollan's critique of industrial corn, I kept thinking about what we are doing to the planet and the image that kept coming was the farm scenes at the start of "Interstellar", and how Matthew McConaughey had to wear a mask to go outside due to the awful dust storms. Are we creating that inevitability of a dying planet that can only be saved by the sudden appearance of a wormhole, all because of a capitalist need for profits and a consumeristic need to constantly pay less for everything? We want more and we want it cheaper, and that is all that matters? (See this link for other entries about capitalism.)

Pollan highlights one solution that might be an answer if not the answer, but it is radical in the extreme at least by what we think of today as conventional wisdom driven by capitalism. I will leave it to you as a reader to read about and analyze that potential solution yourself, as even if I had the time and space to summarize it here, I doubt I could do it as eloquently as Pollan did in his book. Suffice it to say that I think we should give the alternatives to industrial agriculture a significant amount of focus and brain power. Even if the current solutions are not globally scalable, they should be able to provide inspiration for ideas that may be. 

Pollan also wades into the ethics of eating meat. In my mind, eat meat or not, that is your choice. But I think his words in the following quote (page 405 from the paperback version of the book) are an interesting take on the subject.

Cycling Update:
This was a really good week for cycling, and I did not even get a ride in on the weekend end. I hit 80 km by Friday in three rides and explored parts of the city that I may never have been to, and certainly have not been to since I moved here officially after university. 

I made it to Vegreville on my virtual cross-Canada cycling tour this week. Vegreville is a nice town, one that I spent a lot of time in when I was an independent consultant as I had multiple clients there. In the years since I stopped consulting, I have only been back two or three times, and with younger kids at the time, each visit to Vegreville required a stop by the pysanka. As per the Wikipedia entry, a pysanka is a decorated Ukrainian Easter egg decorated with Ukranian folk designs. Pysanka can be beautiful objects, and we have several in our house. An image search of Vegreville comes up with mainly images of the massive pysanka erected in Vegreville. 

Next up on the cross-Canada tour is Vermilion. I probably would have made it there this week if not for the Kijiji focus all weekend. I doubt I will make it all the way to Lloydminster this week, but that might happen if I can get four good rides in. 

The updated progress chart is shown below. 

New Words:
Just one new word this week, that being the first one. The rest are the last tranche of words from "The Splendid and The Vile" that I finished a handful of weeks ago. 

anhedonia
[ˌanhēˈdōnēə, -hi-]
NOUN
psychiatry

1. inability to feel pleasure.

astrakhan
[ˈastrəkən, ˈastrəˌkan]
NOUN

1. the dark curly fleece of young karakul lambs from central Asia.

solipsism
[ˈsäləpˌsizəm]
NOUN

1. the view or theory that the self is all that can be known to exist.

peroration
[ˌperəˈrāSHən]
NOUN

1. the concluding part of a speech, typically intended to inspire enthusiasm in the audience.

chaff
[CHaf]
VERB
chaffing (present participle)

1. tease.

chary
[ˈCHerē]
ADJECTIVE

1. cautiously or suspiciously reluctant to do something.

impetigo
[im·​pe·​ti·​go | \ ˌim-pə-ˈtē-(ˌ)gō  , -ˈtī-  \]
NOUN

1. an acute contagious staphylococcal or streptococcal skin disease characterized by vesicles, pustules, and yellowish crusts

Greetings from 53.5° north latitude. This past week was filled with beer, cycling, writing, and work. On top of all that, it snowed on Saturday which I suppose should not be surprising given that it is still early April. 

Before we get into the regular sections of this week's blog, I want to highlight two different items. First up, let's talk about work. The most memorable work item from the past week is clearly the launch of Wave 3 of the Connect Care Clinical Information System. This is a smaller wave from the point of view of number of users, but is huge from a geography point of view. Covering the western half of the North Zone of Alberta, Connect Care went live in 31 sites. Launching a new system across that many users covering that much territory is a great accomplishment and everyone should be very proud of their collective success. 

The other item I want to highlight before getting on to the regular sections is The Uncensored Library. This is an effort from the organization Reporters Without Borders to use the universal appeal of Minecraft to get around censorship and oppression towards journalists. From the website, the goal is to provide "access to independent information to young people around the world through a medium they can playfully interact with. Journalists from five different countries now have a place to make their voices heard again, despite having been banned, jailed, exiled and even killed."

I think this is a wonderful initiative, and in theory could actually reach a number of youth around the world. It is unclear how many people will actually reach out to download the particular Minecraft map and explore the information in it, particularly because it is only available on the Java edition. I did not understand why it would be exclusive to Java, but then I came across this explanation:

It was not immediately clear why this map would not be suitable for the Minecraft Marketplace. My assumption is that the it would be a violation of the Microsoft Store Policies, in particular Section 11.10 Country/Region Specific Requirements. That section specifically calls out "providing or enabling access to content or services that are illegal under applicable local law". Publications of journalists that are censored would be illegal, so I suppose that must be the reason.

It is a bit of a shame of course as the Bedrock version of Minecraft has a larger and expanding user base, where the Java user base is decreasing. If nothing else though, this project has an opportunity to raise awareness on an important issue. Please consider donating to RSF at this link. 

Cycling Update:
I was able to complete the short, first segment in Leg #4 from Edmonton to Elk Island National Park in my virtual cross-Canada. I still have a few hours to get another ride in today, but given the frozen ice on the road from the spring snow on Saturday chances are I am done for the week. Here is the updated chart.

Looking at the chart, I will easily reach Vegreville next week and have a chance of getting through to Lloydminster in two weeks. More likely though will be that I will not pass Lloydminster until the week of April 26 but will be on my way to Saskatoon that week. 

In the meantime, here are a few fun facts about Elk Island courtesy of Wikipedia. As far as national parks go, it is the eighth smallest, which makes me wonder how small the seven other smaller parks are. Having been to Elk Island man times in my life, I can confirm that it is definitely small. However, it is the largest fully enclosed national park in Canada, mainly due to the need to pen in the large amount of wood bison in a park with a major national highway running through it. Wood bison are the largest terrestrial mammal in North America, and Elk Island is also home to the smallest terrestrial mammal in North America, the pygmy shrew. 

To give some perspective, here is a picture of a wood bison on the road into Elk Island a few years ago. I am sure that bad boy's head was too big to fit in the window of our car and he would have had to bend his neck down to do so, if he was so inclined. 

New Beers:
Three new beers this week coming from breweries across Canada. 

First up and coming in as Beer #746 was the Good as Gold Dortmunder Lager from SYC Brewing here in Edmonton. This was a fine example of the style with a really nice balance of malt and tang. The taste was fairly understated, but that is consistent with the style. I am not a huge fan of textbook lagers, as maybe the flavors are too nuanced for me. That said, I was able to appreciate how well this was put together, and for what it was, it was quite good. (3.5 / 5) If you are looking for a good brewery to dig into, try SYC. I have tried four of their beers to date and they are averaging 3.6. (Technically, 3.625 for those of you that are as pedantic as me.)

Beer #747 was a super IPA from Collective Arts, their IPA No. 16.  The elderflower was a nice add, not something I think I have had in a beer before. There was some nice tartness from the grapefruit without the annoying pithiness that often comes with citrus. Nice color and hazy without suspended sediment. (3.75 / 5)

Last up and Beer #748 was a collaboration headed up by Ribstone Creek Brewery out of Edgerton. This was a nice yeasty white with multiple flavors. Orange for sure, maybe pineapple or banana. Both of those last two were pretty faint. Nice head and color and a really sweet aroma. I am really glad that Ribstone is back in my rotation. They are a bit geographically outside the brewing corridor in Alberta and it would be great for them to stick around and prosper. This beer was a good sign. (3.5 / 5)​

New Words:
Seven new words this week, with the first two coming from the Churchill book, The Splendid and The Vile. After this week, there are still six new words coming from that book. The other five this week came from a book I am reading from Michael Pollan that should be complete next week. 

compère
[ˈkämˌper]
NOUN

1. a person who introduces the performers or contestants in a variety show; host.

grandiloquent
[ɡranˈdiləkwənt]
ADJECTIVE

1. pompous or extravagant in language, style, or manner, especially in a way that is intended to impress.

abrogate
[ˈabrəˌɡāt]
VERB

1. (formal) repeal or do away with (a law, right, or formal agreement).

blandishment
[ˈblandiSHmənt]
NOUN

1. a flattering or pleasing statement or action used to persuade someone gently to do something.

protean
[ˈprōdēən, prōˈtēən]
ADJECTIVE

1. tending or able to change frequently or easily.

immiseration
[i(m)ˌmizəˈrāSHən]
NOUN

1. economic impoverishment.

redound
[rəˈdound]
VERB

1. (formal) contribute greatly to (a person's credit or honor).
2. (archaic) come back upon; rebound on.