Hello Blogosphere! (Goodbye Movember)

When I was in school I took an introductory course in Computer Sciences designed to teach the very basics of HTML and Python (which I came to understand is a general-purpose programming language). The class was a disaster, not for my technologically inclined peers, but for me – a guy whose brain simply isn’t built for computers, math, science, or any other kind of quantitative reasoning. I did however manage to take one tiny bit of knowledge away from that class, and of course it was nothing practical at all, but instead a quaint little piece of techno-geek ritual. I speak of the time honoured tradition of “Hello world,” a program simple enough that people who have no experience with computer programming can easily understand it. It basically consists of typing an annoyingly large amount of code with the result being the words “hello world” appearing on your display monitor. It represents, in essence, the birth of a newbie programmer.

Now I am not a programmer, but I am a newbie blogger, and it is in that spirit that I have appropriated and bastardized the Hello World ritual for the title of this blog post, the first of many that will soon be coming from the BBOT.

Yes, the Burnaby Board of Trade blog is back, and I have been charged by my peers to contribute. In fact, it looks as though I have the honour of the first real post. I will take the opportunity to speak to something that has come to be one of my favorite times of the year: Movember.

The 30th is tomorrow and I’m conscious that I have only a few more hours to remain a strong and virile man with a mighty Mo. Then my wife will make me shave, and I will revert back to being a skinny man-child with no moustache at all. I will feel scared and vulnerable. Worse, I’m sure to experience Mo withdrawal – a sense of loss, desperation and deep sadness. This is the oft-cruel cycle of Movember.

But there were highs as well, and that’s what makes Movember so great. The BBOT put together a hell of a campaign this year with participation not only from the Mo Bros but the Mo Sistas as well. Led by the fundraising strength of BBOT CEO Paul Holden, the team managed to raise nearly $1,000 in support of men’s health and prostate cancer research. As the strong and fearless captain of Team BBOT, I would just like to thank everyone who donated to the cause, or who otherwise encouraged and supported our manly shagginess. I also want to thank my teammates with whom I shared a comradery normally reserved solely for lumberjacks, firefighters, private investigators and 70s rock stars.

Only 11 Months until the next Movember!

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