Two months until I turn 27, and I’m looking forward to it. “27” sounds nice. Still considered young, but with a dash of maturity and experience. For example, at work, one would not treat a 27 year old like a new grad. No way! You’re an engineer that has been working full time for nearly 5 years. No more patting yourself on the back for taking on a new project, or solving a problem that you’ve never seen before. Not knowing what to do at work is no longer novel nor nerve racking - it’s just what’s normal.
27 is also a familial milestone as my mother got married at that age. When I was in undergrad, I would think, Geez… 27 is so old. I was certain that I’d be married before then. But now, “27” is knocking on my door, and I’m thinking “Really? Where has the time gone?”
Nearly five years ago, a good friend (let’s call her ‘K’) and I sat down at her parent’s kitchen door during New Years and I had the splendid idea of making a “5 Things to Do in 5 Years” list. It was the closest thing that I had to a 5-Year Plan. I clearly remember a few of the "things" on my list - start a Master’s degree, work overseas, travel to a place not in Asia (b/c until then I had only ever been to either China or Canada). With planning, mindful spending, and an impulsive personality that enabled me to say YES to a few, very, VERY last minute opportunities, I have managed to accomplish at least all of the items that I did remember. Hence, I guess I do know exactly where the time has gone.
For Jenny’s 5 Year Plan Version 1.0, I also intentionally made an effort to not include any romantic goals. I was 22, single and unreservedly stubborn about not harboring the stereotypical dreams of young women everywhere.
K and I have already made plans for the upcoming New Years to get together, and perform the long awaited assessment of our progress. The actual lists are currently held in an envelope, wrapped around a bottle of home-made wine that’s sitting in a wine stand in her parents’ basement. I hope that we would be bold enough to make a new 5 Year Dream List. Perhaps a glass or two of the home-made wine will help to free some of the secret aspirations that are currently being held captive in our souls by the ever mounting life sucking phenomenon known as adult responsibility, practicality and sensibility. Goal setting is hard. The risk of failure can be paralyzing. This time, I have to admit, instead of being stubborn and defiant about not including a romantic goal, the reason is more because I’m just a big chicken.
Why is it that with education, work, fitness, finances, etc., goal setting doesn’t seem so bad, but with romance, there’s this weird taboo or paradox about it. As if you desired it, it wouldn’t come true. No one ever says “Don’t worry. The perfect job opportunity or adventure will fall into your lap! It will come just when you’re not looking!” But those are the clichés constantly used to explain love. It’s like this mystical, elusive, confounding, massively sought-after experience that can only be bestowed serendipitously upon willing, BUT unsuspecting victims. Love can’t be planned for or expedited. You can't ‘Just make it happen!’.
That said, K did include a romantic goal on her 1.0 list and was not jinxed by it, as she started dating a good man soon after, and with whom she still has a relationship. Irrespective of the inclusion of romantic aspirations or not, I have still yet to settle what the other 4 or 5 goals will be. So I'd better get started on that, AND I should try to recall the things on the list that I've forgotten and try to complete them ASAP!
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Northern Ambitions
A part of my job at the Edmonton Waste Management Centre is to procure heavy equipment needed to support our operations. Simply put, I coordinate the purchasing of different types of big machines that are used to move, sort, screen, mix, grind, or shred the thousands of tonnes of waste, compost and recycleables going through our site on a daily basis. Sometimes, the mobile equipment that we get from the dealers requires additional features which must be custom manufactured. One of the companies that has been doing this kind of work for us is Weldco-Beales.
This morning, I had the privilege of touring their impressive manufacturing complex. I saw a cool machine that blasts tiny steel beads against sheet steel, to remove unwanted residues and give it a velvety, matte finish, which makes it easier to weld. I also saw massive automated plasma and gas torch cutting tables, with cutting heads that zips around large panels of steel, releasing different shapes from it, as if they were stamped out by a giant cookie cutter. Keep in mind that some of the steel "cookie dough" is up to 4 inches thick. It is hard to believe that just a few decades ago, this kind of work would've been done manually, by workers holding gas torch cutters.
After the various pieces are cut or milled out by robotic lathes, they come together like a 3D puzzle, and the structure is temporarily held in place by numerous, short, discontinuous seams of tack welds. This technique of using the tack welds reminded me how a dressmaker uses pins to temporarily attach the panels of cut fabric together before running it under a sewing machine.
Anyways, I'm sharing this story not because of my secret passion for equipment manufacturing. I was just really surprised to find out who owned this excellent venture. It turns out Weldco-Beales belongs with a group of companies operating in northern Canada, all owned by the Norterra corporation. But Norterra is actually owned by the Canadian Inuit people through the Nunasi Corporation in Nunavut and the Inuvialuit Development Corporation (IDC) in the western Arctic.
On Norterra's webpage, it stated this vision: to create more meaningful participation in the Canadian and trans-Arctic economies for the people they represent; and their goal: to develop greater economic power and influence over their own region through business development in the infrastructure and transportation sectors. How intriguing! It's an Inuit crown corporation! Of course I wanted to know what else the Nunasi Corporation and the IDC owned, and I found that between the two entities, they owned (wholly or partially) nearly three dozen businesses, from mining, to oil and gas, to environmental consulting, to pharmacies, to travel.
The IDC, in particular, has been trading, selling, and investing for over 30 years, and currently boasts revenue and assets in the several hundreds of millions of dollars.
Why don't we ever hear about outstanding accomplishments such as these with respect to our fellow aboriginal Canadians? All that is ever publicized about are the insurmountable problems that plague their communities. Substance abuse, racism, gang violence, poor health, poor living conditions, victimization, broken families, etc. The prevalence of negative reporting perpetuates hurtful stereotypes, perceptions of inferiority, and acts to further erode cultural confidence and empowerment.
Now contrast this with what has been taking place in the Canadian North, where by the settled land claims with the Inuit have immensely improved their capacity to self-govern. These communities have proven to be quite capable of managing their own communities and finances. Not only that, their governments aren't afraid to carry out their own economic agendas and influence key industrial sectors by owning a piece of the pie. It also doesn't hurt that they using the profits gained to better the lives of their own people, the real beneficiaries. Typically corporate profits goes straight into the pockets of the CEOs and executives of multinational corporations, and other shareholders; all of whom are far removed from the communities or even countries in which their companies operate. They could care less about long-term sustainability and wealth-building for the local communities because they don't live there. In my opinion, it would serve our non-Aboriginal governments well to take a few lessons from the Inuit economic framework and business models.
Sources and hyperlinks used:
http://www.idc.inuvialuit.com/our-companies/
http://www.nunasi.com/aboutnunasi
http://www.nunasi.com/theme/user/NunasiBookEng.pdf
http://www.irc.inuvialuit.com/about/finalagreement.html
This morning, I had the privilege of touring their impressive manufacturing complex. I saw a cool machine that blasts tiny steel beads against sheet steel, to remove unwanted residues and give it a velvety, matte finish, which makes it easier to weld. I also saw massive automated plasma and gas torch cutting tables, with cutting heads that zips around large panels of steel, releasing different shapes from it, as if they were stamped out by a giant cookie cutter. Keep in mind that some of the steel "cookie dough" is up to 4 inches thick. It is hard to believe that just a few decades ago, this kind of work would've been done manually, by workers holding gas torch cutters.
After the various pieces are cut or milled out by robotic lathes, they come together like a 3D puzzle, and the structure is temporarily held in place by numerous, short, discontinuous seams of tack welds. This technique of using the tack welds reminded me how a dressmaker uses pins to temporarily attach the panels of cut fabric together before running it under a sewing machine.
Anyways, I'm sharing this story not because of my secret passion for equipment manufacturing. I was just really surprised to find out who owned this excellent venture. It turns out Weldco-Beales belongs with a group of companies operating in northern Canada, all owned by the Norterra corporation. But Norterra is actually owned by the Canadian Inuit people through the Nunasi Corporation in Nunavut and the Inuvialuit Development Corporation (IDC) in the western Arctic.
On Norterra's webpage, it stated this vision: to create more meaningful participation in the Canadian and trans-Arctic economies for the people they represent; and their goal: to develop greater economic power and influence over their own region through business development in the infrastructure and transportation sectors. How intriguing! It's an Inuit crown corporation! Of course I wanted to know what else the Nunasi Corporation and the IDC owned, and I found that between the two entities, they owned (wholly or partially) nearly three dozen businesses, from mining, to oil and gas, to environmental consulting, to pharmacies, to travel.
The IDC, in particular, has been trading, selling, and investing for over 30 years, and currently boasts revenue and assets in the several hundreds of millions of dollars.
Why don't we ever hear about outstanding accomplishments such as these with respect to our fellow aboriginal Canadians? All that is ever publicized about are the insurmountable problems that plague their communities. Substance abuse, racism, gang violence, poor health, poor living conditions, victimization, broken families, etc. The prevalence of negative reporting perpetuates hurtful stereotypes, perceptions of inferiority, and acts to further erode cultural confidence and empowerment.
Now contrast this with what has been taking place in the Canadian North, where by the settled land claims with the Inuit have immensely improved their capacity to self-govern. These communities have proven to be quite capable of managing their own communities and finances. Not only that, their governments aren't afraid to carry out their own economic agendas and influence key industrial sectors by owning a piece of the pie. It also doesn't hurt that they using the profits gained to better the lives of their own people, the real beneficiaries. Typically corporate profits goes straight into the pockets of the CEOs and executives of multinational corporations, and other shareholders; all of whom are far removed from the communities or even countries in which their companies operate. They could care less about long-term sustainability and wealth-building for the local communities because they don't live there. In my opinion, it would serve our non-Aboriginal governments well to take a few lessons from the Inuit economic framework and business models.
Sources and hyperlinks used:
http://www.idc.inuvialuit.com/our-companies/
http://www.nunasi.com/aboutnunasi
http://www.nunasi.com/theme/user/NunasiBookEng.pdf
http://www.irc.inuvialuit.com/about/finalagreement.html
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)