24Dec 2014 by Matt Edwards 2 Comments

Allie Goes For A Plane Ride

This month we took a two-week family vacation to Maui - it was lovely there. Less so was the travel day on each end. Our flight to Maui was via Vancouver, taking us just over an hour to Vancouver and then another 5.5 hours to Maui. The flight home was (thankfully) direct and took just 6 hours. For those who don't know my daughter, Allie is 18 months old, strong-willed, rambunctious, and vocal (like an air raid siren). The prospect of Allie in a sealed aluminum tube filled with people for 6 hours was, to say the least, worrying. Not to mention the fact that Dana is 4 months pregnant. So we brought toys, books, snacks, and an iPad loaded with games and movies to keep her occupied. Sigh. The best-laid plans of mice and men... Our flights down were the day after Dana's parents'…
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22Sep 2014 by Matt Edwards 2 Comments

On Performance Reviews and Ratings

Performance review season tends to come once or twice a year. I've had formal reviews of my performance and goals both semi-annually and annually and can honestly say I found neither approaches effective. The fundamental problem with the length of time between performance reviews is that the feedback from six or, heaven forbid, twelve months ago is in no way timely and consequently no longer relevant. Being told about something I could have done differently six months ago was beyond aggravating. How could I be expected to change my behaviour when no one told me? And, if you know me, I like to be right (or at least do things the right way); telling me sooner means I can take steps to correct my behaviour immediately instead of continuing on oblivious. The worst feeling I've ever had was when I thought everything was going really well and…
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31Jul 2014 by Matt Edwards 4 Comments

Reface Downtown Edmonton Highrises

Edmonton's downtown is currently a hotbed of activity with the arena and museum projects, new tower construction, and community revitalization. I believe there's an opportunity here to reface or paint some of Downtown Edmonton's existing highrises along with the new development. For all the home renovators out there, think of this as freshening up a few rooms with a new coat of paint while making an addition to your house. In my opinion, the brown and beige office towers, apartments, and condos in the area bounded by 101st street to 107th street and 98th ave to Jasper ave are most in need of some care and attention. These are the buildings from the 1970s and 1980s that followed the style of the "brutalist architecture" of exposed concrete. Towers like Coast Hotel, JACOBS,…
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15Jul 2014 by Matt Edwards 3 Comments

A Vibrant, Thriving Community

My family bought in Windermere fully aware of the mix of residential and commercial spaces and I for one am very much looking forward to seeing how our community transforms in the coming years. Some of the residents in this subdivision are quite active (and vocal on social media) in their objections to businesses in the community or, at least, the types of businesses. For instance: no bars, few or no big box/chain stores, and an emphasis on local businesses and boutique-style shoppes. We've received several notices in our mailbox about proposed re-zoning and amendments to the proposals, most recently the explicit exclusion of a bar/pub-style establishment. How idyllic and narrow-minded. I posted my thoughts in the Facebook community group and also wanted to publish here since it can be hard to eliminate the noise from the messages in those groups. These are my (expanded upon)…
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12Mar 2014 by Matt Edwards 3 Comments

Email is my answering machine

I retweeted this from Chris LaBossiere because it's exactly how I feel and behave: I've become that guy who responds to emails 3-5 days late. Text me if it's important I guess. Better yet, call me. — Chris LaBossiere (@ChrisLaBossiere) February 26, 2014 My friend and colleague Jason recently mentioned me and this retweet and we had a Twitter conversation about it. Near the end, I asserted that most issues or requests for information can be resolved by face-to-face, instant message, or a phone call. To that end I asked, "Should email be treated like an answering machine?" His witty response that internal mail will get his attention right away is on the money; given the volume of email that's sent and received, a physical piece of mail will stand…
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