I'm well into my 3rd age - no compelling need for additional income, bur with significant intimations of the coming 4th age. Actually, my quadruple bypass heart surgery was more than an intimation, but I'm moving closer to being back to "normal". On a more positive note, the image above is a Fall view of the lake as seen from our cottage. The cottage is located on Buckhorn Lake just north of Peterborough, Ontario. When not at the cottage, my wife and I live in our downtown Toronto condo. We can took advantage of the best of both worlds - the peace and tranquility of our cottage and the hectic, multi-dimensional life of downtown Toronto. Alas, the cottage has got to go, we're not up to the physical demands of a cottage.
That was true before the Covid-19 pandemic hit. The cottage is located on the Curve Lake First Nation. They are very concerned about the possible impact of the pandemic on their community and had refused to allow us access to the land that we have leased. It first happened in the Spring of 2020 when the pandemic first hit. It happened again during the 2020-21 winter/spring season. In June of 2021 we were granted limited access to our cottage. We were required to self-isolate for 14 days every time we go to the cottage. The remaining restrictions are slowly being lifted and we may have unfettered access by August 2021.
When I first established a web presence back in the dim past of the 1990's, my focus was on my consulting practice and on the IT profession. All of my consulting is now a volunteer effort and I have not maintained my currency in IT best practice, but I'm still interested in technology, just not as a vocation. I volunteer, often working with the LIFE Institute at Ryerson University and with the Academy for Lifelong Learning at UofT and with local urban planning groups. At the LIFE Institute I've offered a number of classical music courses and a smaller number of technology, urban planning and philosophy/sociology courses. I find that offering non-credit courses to my 3rd age peers is an excellent way to enhance and consolidate my understanding. And I've gotten involved in some of the IT challenges that the LIFE Institute faces. It's a virtual challenge.
Urban planning in downtown Toronto is a fascinating exercise with major implications for the economy and for the reality of living in the downtown. Toronto is now the forth largest urban area in North America with a downtown that is projected to double in population in the next few decades, or was so projected before the pandemic. I've been involved in planning for specific properties, planning for areas and planning new urban initiatives. One of the more promising initiatives is Living Urban Blocks, where people have equal use of the public realm and where vehicles don't have an automatic right-of-way. Encouraging signs of what is likely to happen.
Over time I will be adding material to this site. One of first steps was be to install a static copy of my previous website reaching back to the two previous websites. The technology keeps changing. I'll keep an archival record on the site, but there would be little value in having the old content served by a new content management system.
I'll also be adding Thoughts as the spirit moves me and as i find the time to present those thoughts on this site.
25 Maitland, Toronto
416-769-1885