Same ocean...different day enroute to Kobe Japan 

Mayor of Kobe, Japan welcoming the crew of the SV John Pike. Bob is smiling for a number of reasons. 

Red Deer College 8th Annual Office Admin Conference

What a great Friday I had! Was invited to Red Deer College to do a keynote for a student organized Office Admin conference. What a great group of women...and what a great job they did too!

This is a class project for the 2nd year students and in my opinion, they passed with flying colors.

From a speaker's perspective they made me feel right at home and were very responsive as I shared some ideas during the 100 mins or so on stage.

I was able to encourage them to take risks and to sail out of the protection of their 'safe habor' as they finish their program and tackle building their new careers.

I shared the story of my Hawaii to Kobe, Japan story with the typhoon encounter as the background for my remarks.

The nice thing about this event was being able to actually stay around and talk with some of the audience members instead of having to rush off to another plane or drive to the next engagement. This was a luxury I do not enjoy too often and it was fun. Nice to hear the remarks and answer questions in person.

To the organizing class of Red Deer College's Office Admin program...my thanks for a wonderful day....YOU DID GREAT!

Bob

Goodbye Ron...

We said goodbye to my friend and neighbor Ron yesterday morning.

Ron passed away suddenly on the 19th of a massive corornary. According to the ME he most likely was gone before he hit the floor. He left behind his 92 year old father who is also my neighbor out here in the wilds of Alberta, two sons, an older brother and two nephews and a neice....and of course a whole passel of friends, including myself, who have been impacted by his friendship and investment in our lives.

I had the privilege of being allowed to say a few words in reflection of his life. I spoke briefly about the legacy he left and how I thought it was revealed in his relationships in his various roles in life...son, father, uncle, boss, employee, friend etc. I spoke about what I thought were his three major legacies... laughter, love and learning.

Ron loved to laugh and to share jokes and moments of mirth with all of us.... when we went for coffee (frequently each week) he would be the one who kept the conversation going and quite often it would be sprinkled with laughter...often started or punctuated by his...

Ron loved his life, his father, his sons and was very generous in sharing his passion with the rest of us....I will miss his energetic engagements... he was never afraid to challenge you and make you think... and he did not suffer fools gladly as the saying went.

Ron loved to learn and to share that learning with others. In his former role at CN part of what he did was teach mechanics how to be better ones. Ron was always open to share his knowledge...when I would visit him in the garage we built (family and friends) a couple of years ago...he always had time to explain to me what he was working on and how it worked or needed to be fixed.

In short, Ron was a generous man, who gave of himself. He was a man who liked to build, to fix things and to make them better. I believe he had that affect on people too...he did with me. His investment and friendship in my life has helped make me a better person, a better speaker and perhaps even a better writer as well.

Ron...I will miss you...but I will not forget you.

In honor of Ron Bigoray
1947 - 2005