Alex Carrick’s Blog

A weatherman, an economist and a little old gypsy lady were attending a forecasters’ convention. After all the speeches and the events of the first day, they met in a bar and had a few drinks together.   As the night wore on, they challenged each other to reveal their worst forecasting errors.   The […]

[Read more →]

I made it. I’m free. I can’t believe it. This is so great!   I can hear them talking below me. They think this is a tragedy and it’s making them sad. They suspect the tree was lurking to ensnare me. They couldn’t be more wrong. I saw my opportunity and I took it.   The […]

[Read more →]

North of the city, this past weekend, I eaves-dropped on the following conversation in a local diner.   MAN: Do ya suppose it’s okay to bury Barry in Barrie?   WOMAN: He wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.   MAN: Bad how he bought it, though.

[Read more →]

You have to like Twitter. It yields access to large numbers of people that one could not otherwise reach. Through “following” and “followers”, direct messages and other commands it is a far more powerful tool than its simplistic design suggests.     However, its drawbacks are obvious. First is the brevity with which one’s message appears on […]

[Read more →]

“When one scoop of ice cream is too much, two scoops can sometimes be just right.” That was something my wife, Donna, said one summer evening – perhaps unwittingly, we’ve never been quite sure – when the family walked to the local ice cream parlour for a cool treat. Then she demonstrated her belief in this […]

[Read more →]

In another romantic space, long long ago, I wrote the following lyrics to a song that can only be heard in my own head. Nevertheless, I think they make for entertaining reading, particularly at a time such as this, when the economy is in rough shape. Furthermore, I would suggest these words could only have been […]

[Read more →]

Whenever I hear a major celebrity has died, I am reminded that there is no such thing as time. Our most vivid memories of these individuals are when they were at their prime. Their vitality and life force made them seem indestructible. Then suddenly, ten or 20 or 30 years later they are gone. It seemingly […]

[Read more →]

My nose knows and it is telling me that I need to write about Toronto’s garbage workers strike. We’re about to enter the fourth week. Negotiations between the mayor’s office and the union are getting overheated. Everyone is sweating over the details. The situation has become sticky. You see the problem? There is going to be a lingering […]

[Read more →]

The weekend started off badly for me when Donna, my wife, announced she had purchased a couple of inflatable boats to take with us to the cottage. These were to help amuse two friends of Ted, our middle child, that we were bringing with us from Friday night through Sunday.   I hate rafts. They are […]

[Read more →]

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 […]

[Read more →]