The National Sales meeting |
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It's 9:10 Tuesday morning, and I'm sitting in a hotel room at Harrison Hot Springs, 150km from Vancouver, Canada, attending another sales training meeting ? an international one. In front of me I have a binder with the name Angela Electronics on it and a USB stick with all the Power Point Presentations. There is also a glass of water, my plastic room key, small note pad and pen advertising the hotel. The locations of these meetings changes, but the rooms and the carpets remain the same. Last year we met in Las Vegas, 1284 |
Opus 5 - the Cedar Tree at the Top of the Driveway |
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"Finally we decided to have the sagging cypress trees in
the front of the house removed." "The trees need special watering. It's been six days and there still is no sign of rain. I am particularly concerned with the cedar at the top of the driveway; it's showing minimal signs of life and doesn't appear to be taking root." Said Anne-Marie my wife. The watering continued and so did the visits from Jerald. Jerald, according to the newspapers, was a musician of some repute. He was the Associate Concertmaster with the Capilano Symphony. What happens on the street? What becomes of the"cedar at the top of the driveway?" and to Jerald? 2890 words |
The Peak of the Day |
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The Grouse Mountain Skyride is where this story takes place. It was a foggy Sunday morning and John Meadows from Wakefield Quebec was greeting the folk on the half empty red Skyride. The curtain of fog prevented any view. Amongst the people on board were two colourfully dressed mountain cyclists of indeterminate sex, a Spanish speaking school party and two couples from cruise ships In the corner sat a man of about 40 years old dressed for serious hiking The name of the hiker was Paul Tully. He sometimes stared at the floor and sometimes at his watch,The girl student approached Paul with a camera. "¿Me excusa, fotografía?" What happens next? Could it happen to you? 1779 words |
House keeping at the Hotel Reye in Sunnyvale |
| Paul Tully saw the woman from the swimming pool. She had a clipboard, keys and walked from door to door, three floors above him. This was the Hotel Reye in Sunnyvale California and Paul wanted to stay another night but the hotel was full. Not a problem in the Silicon Valley you say? Wrong! Paul was scheduled for morning and afternoon seminars on electromagnetism and ASIC design plus his wife Anne Marie was flying to join him that evening. the hotel was affordable and ideally located to the Santa Clara Convention Centre. If you have had to change hotels you will understand this story. 1636 words |
Girl skier in a red top. |
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It was a cold Sunday morning in February and the sun was shining. "I said we would meet her here at 9am," said Paul. "Well she is late. Let's go I am getting cold", replied Jason Watts "I think we're the ones that are late, why don't we give her a few minutes?" "No, we'll catch her on the mountain, I am getting cold." Paul Tulley had promised his wife Anne Marie he would look out for Yvonne Gaulet who was visiting from Ottawa. Yvonne had been in Vancouver all week on business but wanted to cross country ski Cypress before taking an afternoon flight back home. 2014 words |
Waiting for a ride home |
| " You call me anytime if you need me." Paul strained to hear any accent. But there was none. The girl moved away. Then returned to the woman. They desperately hugged each with pain for a time interval that earthly clocks cannot yet measure similar to the time frame of a cyclist battling a colossal hill. The girl joined her brother; the door closed with a finality and the woman walked obliviously past Paul. She got into the red car and slowly drove away. Paul stared at her face through the windshield. Here was a face to paint. Lucian Freud can you do it? Do we have a local portrait painter around? A photograph wouldn't do. The anguish, the pain. He had witnessed the intimate act of a transitional stage of a shared custody. Thoughts bombarded him. How had this separation affected the children at school? 1267 words |