How would you like to take a quick nap at work? This is no joke; Harvard Business Review came out with a blog a few weeks ago and had a lot to say about it!
Experts are saying that people are just not getting the minimum requirement of 7.5 hours of sleep to maintain overall good health causing exhaustion at the work place. More and more employers are taking notice and are worried that they are losing productivity. As such, some companies are providing nap rooms or check out Google they placed nap pods under their stair wells (which, I must say is an unusual but brilliant use of lost space!) for employees to get some rest. Of course, there are rules to follow. I mean, we can’t nap all day but a quick 20 minutes is known to refresh people and bring them back to life.
Habitat for Humanity is one of the most popular volunteer activities among Vigilant employees. A few days ago, 12 of us headed out to the current Montreal build site to lend our expertise on the project. We volunteered our time at the same site in 2009, but that time we helped put in rebar in the foundation-building stage. One year later, we’re helping with the finishing touches of a brand new, affordable home for a much-deserving Montreal family.We were divided into teams, each tackling different projects. Some of us have a highly-developed ‘Do-It-Yourself’ skill-set, while others, like me, are DIY-ers in the making…
The newbies got to work on painting baseboards, window and door frames, while the veterans fixed leaks and put in hardwood floors much to the delight of the Habitat project manager. By the end of the day, they were experts at using a table saw, miter saw, and pneumatic nail gun.
Habitat for Humanity build site
I was lucky enough to attend the key-giving ceremony for the completed unit a few weeks ago and met the family who will soon move into their new home. It was even better to be able to give back by getting my hands dirty – albeit with paint and not sawdust – and really feeling like I had contributed to something worthwhile.
Tonight, the streets of downtown Montreal will be deserted between 7 and 10 PM because Montrealers will either be at the Bell Centre, at a local sports bar, or at home with friends to watch the Habs’ home opener against the Tampa Bay Lightning. We live, eat and breathe hockey here.
At the end of the game, as always, is the announcement of the “the three stars”, a great way to spotlight the three players that outshined their teammates. True puckheads always stick around after the game to see who the “stars” will be. For tonight’s game, we are going to see new added little twist from the usual magic on ice. And at the end of the game, a new system will be introduced that will allow the fans to choose who those three stars are.
How, you say?
Yup, there’s an app for that too.
As of today, Smartphone users can download a new Canadiens app to vote for their three stars…a first in club history. It’s totally the fans call tonight.
In sharp contrast to the ‘Epic Chinese Traffic Jam” I blogged about a few months ago, there seems to be another traffic jam on a super highway above our heads. A constant, perpetual one kilometer radius of billions of bugs flying above us…
It was a glorious and sunny fall Sunday morning at De Maisonneuve Park. My three friends and I were happy to be up early on one of the last crisp fall days in Montreal. Trees were gently swaying in the gentle wind littering the ground with a rainbow of colored leaves, orange, yellow, brown…
But the color that stood out most was… PINK. This Sunday was the kickoff of the CIBC Run for the Cure, and boy was it an unbelievable event. Over 20,000 runners/walkers/volunteers/supporters overwhelmed the Park.
Everyone was wearing some shade of pink, the “awareness” color for breast cancer research. Very cool event to have been at!
According to the Montreal Gazette, the Run for the Cure raised $2.1M for breast cancer research.
