Every day on my way to work, I pass by the Apple Store on Saint Catherine street in Montreal. There’s usually not that much to see around there in the early morning; perhaps a few blue shirts walking around behind the glass, somebody polishing the windows, or perhaps a security guard, preparing for the masses.

As I passed by the store on the morning after Jobs’ passing, I saw a much large group of blue shirts — Today, they were people. People with real emotions. All hunched down and huddled around the “Genius bars” on the second floor.

That got me thinking; this must be going on at Apple stores all over the world. Thousands of “floor workers” are mourning his death; even people who never even met Jobs in person. Millions of people. People, like you and me.

I must admit that I was moved by what I saw. Not because I was sad, but because I was blown away by what Jobs accomplished in a lifetime, cut short. And I was overwhelmed when I realized how many people’s lives he touched.

This morning, there were no people washing windows, but….

…there was definitely something extraordinary taking place.

But, now that I’m living in Montreal, I thought it might be a good idea to get my driver’s license. Why? Well, because it’s a lot cheaper (~$900 CAD) and a lot easier too (at least in theory). That’s why I’ve been going to driver’s ed for the past few months!

I just finished half of the theory classes this week (12 out of 24 hours), got my “Learner’s Permit” and completed my first two “In-car Sessions” (2 hours on the road in downtown Montreal). So, I thought this would be time to share some thoughts on what I’ve learned!

First of all, I had totally forgotten what it was like to sit in a classroom with a bunch of uninspired teenagers. The last time, I was probably one of them. Aside from a few matured spirits, it’s obvious that most of my fellow students would rather be hanging out at the mall, not doing their homework, sexting, trimming their pubes or whatever else teenagers do these days. I think we can all agree that mandatory driver’s ed isn’t anyone’s idea of fun, however, it’s interesting to see how people choose to become victimized by the situation, rather than making the best of what they’re paying for.

That said, I have to be fair; it doesn’t help the situation that the classes are primarily aimed at how young drivers are the scum of the road, and how they’ll be a part of the sad statistics on next year’s revised curriculum. And the way the material is presented doesn’t really help either (more on that later; when I’ve completed the course I’ll write up a little review of the driving school I attended and SAAQ’s program in general).

Speaking of statistics; the numbers from SAAQ’s program are very interesting! Do remember that I’m a data-loving geek, so it’s probably a lot more interesting to me than to the “normal” audience…. Some university in Quebec, which I can’t remember the name of at the moment, dedicated a lot of time to the research used by SAAQ to create the new mandatory “Road Safety Education Program.” And the program actually make a lot of sense and it’s very reasonable (except for some “eco-focused” lectures). The learning material is surprisingly well organized, too!

After living in Montreal for ~2 years, I’ve seen several gruesome accidents. Once, when we were having a few pints on Saint-Denis street, we saw a speeding Porche spin out of control and totally smashing 5-6 other cars that were parked alongside the road. I’ve also witnessed two a cyclists doing air-acrobatics off the hood of a speeding car and face-planting on the pavement….

And after attending these classes, I can totally see why these accidents happen; it’s all about the person behind the wheel. I’ve seen some extremely dangerous personalities in class; some of which should never be allowed to drive any kind of motorized vehicle. To be honest, the fact that they will someday be on the road scares the crap out of me.

I wish the new driver’s ed program would be mandatory for everyone who already hold a license as well, regardless of how long they’ve been on the road. It seems like the “most experienced” drivers are the most reckless drivers; they’re too comfortable in their seats. Just look at the taxi driver’s; they should be first in class! And they should up the age limit for driving to at least 18 years old….

No offence to native Montrealers, but I think it’s hard for people who have lived here their entire lives to see how bad it really is. It’s very obvious to people who visit Montreal from Scandinavian countries that people in Montreal simply don’t know how to be responsible and courteous drivers. But at least I see a brighter future for the new generation of drivers, thanks to SAAQ’s new mandatory program (even though I dislike going through it myself).

Well, let’s just say that when you’re stomach’s rollin’, you shouldn’t be. That might result in unpleasantries for all parties. Although it could lead to some very innovative and interesting submissions; let’s just say it’s not the best of times to be practicing knee-on-stomach techniques!  But I’m thinking that, next week, I’ll just have to go to training no matter what the state. And then we’ll just have to see how it goes! (Heads-up!)

Have you ever been forced to take a timeout from grappling due to stomach problems. And if so; how did you “fix” it? I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one out who has experienced this, but there sure aren’t many people talkin’ about it (for good reasons, probably)!

So after numerous recommendations from friends and evaluating a number of different options for self-hosting, I opted for WebFactions — They simply offer good services at a reasonable price. You also get shell access, and you can compile and run anything you want from within your home directory, which is really nice! It seems to be a good “middle ground;” something in-between the full blown VPS solutions such as SliceHost and Linode and the myriad of shared hosting services out there.

I basically didn’t want to spend my time on setting things up from scratch, but I still wanted the flexibility you get from having shell access. So far, WebFactions seems to suit my needs perfectly, and I’m already hosting a number of things there. MediaTemple‘s “Grid-Service” also looked very appealing, but it was simply too expensive for my humble needs.

Oh, and I also transferred my domains from Alohanic to EasyDNS. I never had any problems with Alohanic, but EasyDNS’s website and administrative interface was a lot cleaner/modern-looking and easier to use….

Anyways, aside from a few broken external links and a new theme, this shouldn’t make much of a difference! And now that I can, I might even throw together my own theme at some point, but at the moment I’ve got other, more important interesting things to do!

Essentially, “The Thinking Tomato” is an exemplary “repackaging” of FranklinConvey’s “7 Habits,” of which the author is also a certified trainer. The story is also flavoured by hints of other works, such as Dr. Peale’s “The Power Of Positive Thinking.”

In his enthralling semi-fictional story, the author, professional coach and avid rose gardener Jim Martin, beautifully illustrates some of the key concepts of the aforementioned teachings. He shows us how these could gradually develop in individuals and play out in “real world” environments.

Jerry, the protagonist, is gradually introduced to concepts of “Self Cultivation” and “Organizational Gardening” through cleverly devised analogies between vegetable gardening and self development. He learns how he’s been holding himself back, how to dispel his passive mindset and battle his destructive habits, as he reaps the rewards from applying this knowledge to his personal and professional life.

Jim has a very unique and compelling way of delivering his thoughts on how we can live happy and fulfilling lives, and how we can help other people to do the same. These are gleaming “Personal Powers” of an experienced coach and rose gardener!

My conclusions is that, even though some of the scenarios felt a bit over exaggerated a perhaps a bit naive (for lack of a better word), it was an excellent read overall. It was interesting, inspirational and motivating, and I even learned a thing or two about growing tomatoes!

Highly recommended!

Visit the official website for more information.

Now, ruminating on the years past, I have no regrets for choosing this career path. As with any endeavor, there have of course been some bumps and turns along the way, but they all lead to something good….

Every one of those bumps lead to substancial profesional and personal growth, and every turn revealed opportunities to increase in knowledge. And although the industry is known to be a bit “venturesome” in general, I’ve come to the conclusion that, for the past 4 years, it has provided me with ideal conditions to learn and flourish.

It’s also funny, how I never really considered making games for a living, until I really got my toes wet a few years back. In many ways, I guess you could say that it was a “dream discovered,” or like awakening a dorment dream in the light of new discoveries….

Yes — I have loved playing games for as long as I can remember, but being a part of creating games that other people would love to play, and not to mention the camaraderie amongst me and my inspiring and creative colleagues; that is where I found my passion, and that’s probably where I’ll stay for years to come.

By example, Stayer beautifully illustrates some timeless principles of the highly effective manager. As I delved deeper into this, I discovered that the article is available online, for free! I encourage you to read it!

It’s inspiring, to learn how he endeavored to step out of his comfort zone to “safeguard” a steady and successful business, where I think a lot of managers would simply kick back in their chairs and repeatedly count the tiles in the ceiling of their corner office, until it’s too late.

Dosed with that eery feeling one gets in an extended period of smooth sailing, he decided to be proactive in times of calm, in fear of future storms. By managing himself, he learned how to empower his “workers,” and unleashed their true potential to benefit the company’s newly established goals, in a way where everyone wins.

How could we apply this knowledge in the world of software?

Well, for example, in exceedingly popular Agile management practices like Scrum, this can be achieved by facilitating for self-organized teams – Proven to be one of the more difficult aspects of Scrum to implement, likely because it requires a great deal of trust.

So, how can we build trust?

Essentially, I think this was Stayer’s answer to that question:

I had to anticipate the potential impact of every word and act, ask my self again and again if what I was about to do or say would reinforce the vision or undermine it, bring us closer to Point B or circle us back to Point A, encourage people to own their own problems or palm them off on me. My job, as I had come to see it, was to put myself out of a job.

Now, it’s very easy to fall into the trap of blindly labelling these things as “Common Sense.” The fact is that, most things which bear this horrid curse-word of a label are utterly worthless without understanding when and where it applies, and then applying it….

Ironically, this could also be regarded as common sense, but that’s a different topic all together.

Were it anything else, I would have gone, even though I’m sick. However, I don’t think my peers would appreciate my violent lung-wrenching coughs during practice, and I wouldn’t want to contaminate my classmates! That’s how my abstinence is for the greater good.

I really want to get back on the mat to play and improve my game, and I want to work on that third stripe! Once I’ve got that, I’ll be able to attend the advanced classes as well, which means double the training!

So, this fight goes to you, Nasopharyngitis! I’ll tap to fight another day. In the meantime, I’ve got loads of BJJ videos to keep me sane!

Here’s a tip; if you’re in a hurry during rush hours in Montreal, don’t attempt to use public transportation. You’re probably better off walking if your destination is within reasonable walking distance. Fellow metro passengers, if you read this, I sincerely apologize for so violently ramming you into that rubber-wheeled tin can with a flying start.

Anyways…. I made it to class, just in time for warmups!

As usual for the Fundamentals class, we started out with a self-defense technique — the guillotine choke from an attempted double-leg takedown and corresponding defensive techniques. Then, we looked into transitioning from the top turtle position to back control with both hooks in, followed by some collar chokes from the back.

In specific training, we started sparring from the back with both hooks in, and switching positions on 3 minute intervals. I really don’t know much about how to use this position yet, but, I’ve got this feeling that it’s going to be one of my personal favourites — it’s definitely something I want to explore further!

That about sums it up for a day of learning! Good night!

In short, today was mainly centered around the 3 first (out of 7) of Franklin Covey‘s “Habits for Managers,” as well as a general overview of the rest of the material. This included numerous group exercises and other interesting material, which sparked constructive and fruitful discussions amongst us. From this, I’ve got a stack of inspirational reading material and ideas lined up for use in future blog posts!

Anyways, I won’t go into details at this time, since I haven’t gotten enough time to really digest the experience. My meticulous self would like to wait until I’m done with the entire course (there’s one more day to it), but so far it has been excellent — beyond all expectations!