Distractions, reflections

Distractions, reflections

David Ing, at large … Sometimes, my mind wanders

2006/11/11 Lower Spadina Avenue, Toronto

November 11, 2006
For a change, I went over to Simon’s apartment so that we could do some web site work. Simon lives east of Spadina Avenue, north of Lakeshore Boulevard and the Gardiner Expressway. Although it was rainy, the snapshots below should satisfy your curiosity as to what high-rise dwellers get to see every day.

Looking westward, there’s another complex going up across Spadina, nested in the railway properties. (Simon says if he’s going to sell his unit, he’d better do it before competition opens up across the street!)

20061111_Spadina_skyline_west.jpg Continue reading “2006/11/11 Lower Spadina Avenue, Toronto“

2006/11/02 UK? Toronto? Let’s meet in L.A.

November 2, 2006
We’ll have to emphasize the “I” in International Society for the Systems Sciences. Jennifer and I probably swap at least a few e-mails each week, with the occasional Skype call for voice. With the distance between Toronto and the UK, visiting in person is an unusual event.

Jennifer was coming into the Los Angeles area to visit a sick friend, so I bent my schedule a bit to stay an extra day. After finishing a customer meeting in Burbank, I switched hotels down to Torrance.

20061102_Torrance_JMW.jpg

We met up, had Chinese food for lunch, and I showed Jennifer some of the new web technologies that Simon and I are working on. The membership database is really on an old creaky PC-based platform, so we really should update it.

By late afternoon, Jennifer was on the road out to Riverside County. The next morning, I joined an early teleconference call before taking that long plane ride home.

2006/10/27 Making sushi with neighbours in Finland

October 27, 2006
On this trip to Finland, I had bought a wok to use in Taina’s house, and had been cooking Chinese food for the week. As a change, Taina asked if I could make sushi on Friday night, for some neighbours to try out. I said sure, as long as we could get sushi-grade fish. Taina called the supermarket, and it turns out that all of the fish in Finland is considered to be sushi grade. Helsinki is right on the sea, and the turnover is high, so freshness isn’t an issue.

I cut up the fish and did some demonstrations, but a lot of the fun in having sushi at home is making it yourself. Thus, Pekka was game to roll some maki.

20061027_Salmenpolku_maki_P.jpg Continue reading “2006/10/27 Making sushi with neighbours in Finland“

2006/10/24 Planmeca visit, dental equipment

October 24, 2006
Some people are interested in business primarily to make money. I’m really most interested in how people work. Since the work day is such a big part of our lives, I’m curious as to what people actually do.

As part of the NJIT study tour in Finland, we were privileged to have a visit at Planmeca. This is the smallest company sponsoring the Rendez project. It’s speciality is dental equipment: a high-quality, high-precision assembly niche. Here’s an NJIT executive management student playing at being a dental student.
20061024_Planmeca_trainer.jpg Continue reading “2006/10/24 Planmeca visit, dental equipment“

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