Delusions of Grandeur
Bio
Influencing a small group of bright minds with my kind of propaganda.
Stories (54/0)
An Unexpected Encounter with the Great Blue Heron
I first spotted the bird from a distance of roughly 10 meters as I floated in the water. The water was calm, but a slight current on the surface drifted my watercraft closer to the bank. It was not strong enough to have any real sway, so I stopped paddling and paused to watch the bird. I was on a lake, in a quiet corner, with a public dock at one end behind me, and another private-island dock a bit closer, on my left, where my friends were currently diving into the water. You could still hear their faint voices and laughter as they horsed around and took turns jumping off the dock. From where I had now drifted, the surface of the water had carried their voices over...
By Delusions of Grandeur 3 years ago in Education
A Walk Over To The Ice Rink
I can recall the sound of the snow crunching under my boots as I walked for twenty minutes in the frigid cold. I was on the way to the community ice rink, and it was many years ago. Bundling up and making the trek over to the rink wasn't particularly exciting, it's hardly a story to tell. But, I knew that once I was on the ice, I’d be warm — and then extra layers of clothes would come off, and I'd be having fun. So the effort, from the onset, rarely did stop me from making my way out the door.
By Delusions of Grandeur 3 years ago in Unbalanced
The Float of a Lifetime
The spring has come, and the summer is upon us... The conditions for rafting are as prime as they get, with the spring runoff swelling the banks on either side of the Kicking Horse River. Through the tall and slender Douglas-fir trees on the way to the launch site — as we weave down a dirt road in a classic American yellow school bus — you can see the water glistening from the heat of the hot sun. The rays from the sun are reflecting off the backwater — and off the pillows and eddies — and they strike your eyes with such a powerful intensity that you must divert your gaze. Still, the dazzling and frothy turquoise waters burn into your cornea so that the image is retained, forevermore.
By Delusions of Grandeur 3 years ago in Wander
A Vancouver Island Bear
I can tell you all about the beauty of Vancouver Island. From the ferry ride across the strait to the furthest western point of Tofino, the Island is a Canadian treasure. For these and other reasons, Vancouver island is a popular destination for tourists and retirees alike. So how could such a place — of all the places I have seen throughout the Rocky Mountains (there have been a few) — swiftly bring me into the clutches of a hungry bear? Maybe it was fate, but I shall herein recount the tale…
By Delusions of Grandeur 3 years ago in Wander
The Writing Machine
It’s almost two in the morning. It’s really quiet; I find that my thoughts are clearer at this hour. I even went for a long run (earlier, around nine in the evening) to think up some fresh ideas for a story. I was motivated. After sharing a link to one of my most recent stories, I received a text message back.
By Delusions of Grandeur 3 years ago in Humans
The Art of the Perfect Golf Swing
There are a number of key factors that are involved in executing the perfect golf swing, and I’m going to lay them down, in an easy to follow format, so that you don’t waste too much time with trial-and-error yourself. You can consider me a bit of an expert.
By Delusions of Grandeur 3 years ago in Unbalanced
What Is Poland?
If you live within the Commonwealth of Nations, it would be safe to assume that Poland isn't at the top of your list of holiday destinations. I'm not going to blame you; and, it’s not my intention to try to sway you to visit Poland during a standard two-week American holiday (if you are among the lucky few that are graciously endowed with this much time off per year); especially not during a pandemic, for at present, Covid-19 continues to rage on. We all know that Poland is not just beaches and sunshine anyway; so, what is Poland?
By Delusions of Grandeur 3 years ago in Wander
Brexit Britain, from an inside lens
You may have read a few stories about all the drama coming out of Brexit Britain, but what if I told you that I had a strikingly unique story? It’s a story of the personal account of someone that entered the UK immediately after the referendum, only to leave a few years later, as the exit date was finalized. But what’s special about that? After all, there are many personal accounts as well as entire books dedicated to the essence of Brexit; therefore, what insight could he possibly have that hasn’t already been shared thousands of times over?
By Delusions of Grandeur 3 years ago in Wander
Reading an Electrocardiogram
Heart block is a type of arrhythmia that arises from defects in the cardiac conduction system and varies in severity according to the extent of conduction loss. It can occur from a variety causes including a congenital defect, heart attack, or myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle). Other types of heart diseases including cardio-myopathy and coronary artery disease may cause heart block. Overdosing on certain drugs or heart surgery has been linked to the defect as well.
By Delusions of Grandeur 3 years ago in Longevity
The Laundry Machine Trick
Maybe you have got a pile of laundry to do today and it's just sitting in the corner of your room waiting for you to tackle. And, maybe you have finally got a spare minute to do something about it, so you get up out of your chair. But before you start gathering the dirty linens, you need to make sure you've got enough liquid detergent at your disposal. There’s no sense in undertaking such a tedious task without it, right?
By Delusions of Grandeur 3 years ago in Lifehack
What was your all-time favourite childhood toy?
What was your all-time favourite childhood toy? Sometimes this additional security question comes up when you forget your password and try and log in. To be able to retrieve your password you need to answer a few security questions. Typically, I just type whatever comes to mind and hope it works.
By Delusions of Grandeur 3 years ago in Humans
A sailor is an artist whose medium is the wind
You might just be a little curious about sailing. Maybe you grew up landlocked in a country (like me) and the prevailing culture expected, or perhaps demanded, something different from you. But, in the back of your mind, you sought an escape from the confines of your territory. Perhaps you would buy magazines of sailboats and simply dream — and that was the extent of it; or maybe you were so inclined as to draw sailboats on the back of exam papers — and a passion was born. But, what if you were curious enough to take your yearnings to another level. Just maybe, you devoured anything and everything ‘sailboat’ that came your way; and perhaps you even self-taught yourself all the sailing phraseology, before going forward and purchasing your very own boat, when the time was right. Maybe, you felt that “…a plunge is to be made into the water, [and] it’s of no use lingering on the bank.” So you dared to fulfill a dream. If this at all sounds like you, keep reading.
By Delusions of Grandeur 3 years ago in Lifehack