Alex Carrick’s Blog

Thanks for tuning in and paying attention to my ruminations since I started writing a Blog in February 2008. It’s been an interesting, exciting and fun time.   I’ve decided to mark this nearly year-and-a-half anniversary, which also happens to coincide with Canada Day (July 1), by considering a question that’s been intriguing me for some time.   Why are so many […]

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I am becoming Bionic Man. This has been an ongoing process for the past ten years. First, I had my gall bladder removed. Then, two years apart, I had cataract surgery on both eyes. Most recently, I had a hernia operation. I am now being held together by steel thread, sealing wax and dirt. If […]

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Everybody’s crazy, some more than others. I don’t mean to make light of people who have deeply rooted problems that make their lives much more difficult. I’m talking about the large proportion of the population that passes for normal.   Among everyday acquaintances, everyone is bonkers. Some have addiction issues. Some have anger issues. Others […]

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Port Carling, Ontario is ground zero for money in Canada. It is dead centre in the heart of Muskoka, lying where the three lakes – Joseph, Muskoka and Rosseau – converge. The place reeks of privilege and entitlement.   There is a route that one can drive from Bala, through Port Carling, to the little […]

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During a recession, some companies buck the trend. For example, shoe repair stores and the makers of Spam have seen sales soar. Macdonalds and Wal-Mart are experiencing an influx of customers. All the trouble that people are having coping means the drug companies will probably do okay as well. In fact, more than just okay. They’ll […]

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Who are you, carbon, that everybody is chasing you? Why do they want to capture and store you? What have you done to deserve such approbation and disapproval? Don’t you have rights too? How did things come to this sorry pass?   You are such a renegade. I’m sure there is a background story. There […]

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Penelope Sue had been an incurable romantic almost her entire life. At least, ever since she discovered the word “elopes” hidden within her own name. She was the nicest girl. Everyone agreed on that count. But she had one fatal flaw when it came to men. She expected too much.   That’s why, at the age […]

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I have decided to write about the year I lived in residence in Massey College at the University of Toronto because I have a bad feeling about post-war “baby boomers”. Having had some experience with human nature, and aging parents, I know the boomer generation is likely to become quite nostalgic as the years plod on. I […]

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If there really are space aliens living among us, they should be fairly easy to identify. The following are some of the tell-tale signs. Once you know them, they seem obvious. Just the same, it’s advisable to have them here for reference.   (1) They know a lot more about astronomy than seems good for […]

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Once upon a time, there was a young Canadian boy name Richard, living in a small Prairie town, who played a major role in world events. Up until the age of 18, he did very little to distinguish himself or to set himself apart from the rest of the population. In fact, he’d shown such a […]

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