Best of Toms ... Worst of Toms ...

The temperature is about 15 degrees Celsius outside and it's nice and sunny. I just returned from a 30 minute bike (moto) ride out in the countryside. One other bike out. The wind was up a bit (about 30 km/h maybe). Likely the last "pleasant" ride until the next season. I've been averaging about 7,000 km per year since I started 3 years ago. Bike's still going strong - except for a really annoying whining noise from the speedo - and I still get a big kick out of the thing every time I ride. Shiny side has been mostly up.

Today Jacques Demers, a celebrated NHL hockey coach (Montreal Canadiens) admitted that he was functionally illiterate. The media is expressing major shock at this confession as this fairly articulate (verbally at least) man who has done countless interviews, has had careers as a columnist, and broadcaster was able to hide this disability. There are many gruesome stories today: a child-sex scandal in Winnipeg, a tape of a young girl whoes brother was purposely starved to death by his grandparents, and of course Charles and Camilla's visit to the Bushes. But the Demers story seems to stick in my mind more.

I grew up in an immigrant neighborhood and if I think back, many of the adults in the neighborhood were indeed functionally illiterate. Not because of any lack of education or brain capacity but because they came from another ladn at an age old enough that they never had the chance to immerse in English education. My parents are examples of that. I was fortunate that I never developed a prejudice against illiterate people. When I think of Demers, I don't think of shame and shock. I'm glad he was able to contribute to society in a big big big way ... and hopeful that he'll be able to eventually discover the joys of written communication now that the secret's out.

This is actually my second attempt at blogging. First try was a few months back on Blogger but at that time, I really did not understand the mechanics or spirit of blogs. Since then, I've been working on MaplePrimes (my company's community site) under the guidance of my intern and mentor Will (aka redune), this old brain managed to pick up a few tips. I think I have enough structure set up to try building up a satisfactory stream of consciousness ... wish me luck.

Welcome all to the personal blog for Tom Lee (number 23831 among the gazillion Tom Lee's of the world). This particular Tom Lee lives in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada ... male (as the name suggests), 40-something in age, typical technocratic professional life, great family. Hobbies and interests include: photography (see my flickr album), motorcycles (03 Triumph Bonneville), Scrabble, pretending to speak multiple languages, karaoke in the privacy of my own home, and cooking.

My work life revolves around math and computers (see MaplePrimes my company's Web community - I'm "Tom 4" on the site).