Alex Carrick’s Blog

Please keep in mind this story was written in 2008, since it has a bearing with respect to the ages of our children, as noted in brackets.   Towards the end of May, our daughter, Tammy-Li (aged 5), needed ten dollars for the “book fair” at her school. This set off a chain reaction of serpentine financial […]

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The day I have been dreading has finally arrived. Yesterday, a flyer arrived in the mail from the City of Toronto requiring the Carrick family to decide about our future garbage handling requirements. Specifically, we have to choose the size of bins we will need and the resulting extra charge this will entail.

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Nothing symbolizes the start of summer in our neck of cottage country more than a mattress. And that’s not due to the strange alchemy and hormonal urges that meld dangerously when sand, sun and teenagers mix. No, it’s rather because June 1 is traditionally big garbage day.

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A woman, working in a Tim Hortons donut shop in London Ontario, was recently fired for giving away one free “timbit” to a baby.   This has become a public relations nightmare for the company.   Timbits are the punched out centres of donuts – the empty holes, as it were – and, in some […]

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There are quite a number of reasons it might be “neat” to be the Governor of the Bank of Canada. Here, arranged in no particular order, are the Top 10.   (1) Guv’nor just sounds so great and fits in with this nation’s British heritage.   (2) You always win at Monopoly cause you can just print […]

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My wife can read my mind, which makes it easier for her to steal things from me.   Okay, before I get into big trouble, “steal” is too strong a word. Borrow long-term is a better description.  

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Over the weekend, I had some fun imagining how certain celebrities and politicians would seem to be ideally suited for second careers, in their golden years, as “greeters” at Wal-Mart. Try to imagine being met by these people and these words on your way into the store.

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There is bathroom humour and then there is “in the bathroom” humour, which may be a form of advertising.   I have been accused, on occasion, of using bathroom humour in my speeches and written material. This mystified me until I realized that there had been a misunderstanding.  

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It has often been said there are two driving seasons in Canada, winter and construction. We are currently in the transition period from the former to the latter.   My wife and I were talking about this the other day as we made our way to the cottage on Georgian Bay for the first time in the […]

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The following may not be the equal of an Aesop’s fable or quite as entertaining as something written by Hans Christian Andersen or the Brothers Grimm, but it does convey a message of sorts.

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