The Canericans

Being a Canadian in the United States is an interesting endeavor, especially in the current political climate. In many ways, Canucks and Yanks are very similar and much of the American culture has migrated north over the years. However, there are some pretty big differences when it comes to perceived social benefits. Healthcare being the biggest one. I have never appreciated the Canadian healthcare system so much now that it is unavailable to us. It very much feels like a business here with co-pays and insurance always in the back of your mind when you are deciding whether you really need to go to the doctor or not. Not to mention the questions of, 'Do I want this thing to show up on my medical record? What if we have to switch insurance providers? I don't want this to show as a pre-existing condition?" All things I had never contemplated when we lived in Canada. Get sick, go to doctor. It wasn't such a process of how it will affect me later, or what the consequenc...

Boy Canerican looked at the inside of his bunk bed last night at bed time. "These are just cupcakes now." he said. I said, "what, those stickers you put on the inside of the bed?". "Yes Mom, they are cupcakes. A boy at school, well no, not that boy, a different boy, no I mean this girl, yeah, this girl's Mom brought cupcakes to school for her birthday and they were SOOOO GOOOD it was a distraction. Cupcakes, are distractions. Distractions are cupcakes".  I proceeded to begin reading his book to him. A noise from the living room where Mr. Canerican was clearly playing video games permeated the hallway and crept into his room. "Sigh, more CUPCAKES" Who is this child?

Introduction I have been working in technology since 2001. I thought about spending time here creating a credible, favorable account of my love of games, math and science and how I came to be a proverbial "Woman in Tech". Then I realized that the inclination to do so stems from my underlying fears about fitting in. How ironic, let's move on. Motivation In my 20's I organized and partook in various female focused technology groups. In the past decade I have focused more on myself and my own career, leaving much of the research and engagement in these groups behind. Recently I was asked to contribute some ideas on the specific matter of increasing female headcount in a mostly male tech team. My first reaction was one of fear to look further than my own experiences. I am a high empathy individual who avoids conflict in general, and I knew that researching this topic would require that I: look beyond what I was comfortable with, be pulled in to other more compl...

Boy Canerican is not well known for his ability to sleep. On a recent vacation to Mickey's Magic Kingdom (where you hurry up to wait and eat quintessentially overpriced American food) we had an overnight incident we will never forget. First, a justification for visiting never-going-to-do-this-within-a-budget land. Our relocation from Canada to the US was a well thought out oiled machine. Every step was crafted with precise intention, risk assessments and contingency plans (some of which we had to use, but we will talk about that another time). Once the project plan was executed, and all the hurdles surpassed, there was nothing left to do but be present. Launch complete... what now? To be honest, I wasn't prepared to feel so alone. We had missed documenting the step " find friends and a sense of belonging ".  If you were to delve into my Google search history from a few years ago you would find all sorts of fun stuff.  Here's a few memories - colored for your e...