Kids, Glorious Kids

Kids, Glorious Kids

Last Monday, I went to get a haircut. Beside me sat a little boy perched on a wooden plank bridging the arms of the barber’s chair. It was his first haircut. How did I know? Because his parents were flitting round and round him, taking photos from every angle. I...
His Master’s Voice

His Master’s Voice

My favourite dates come from Sukkari, and they were running out. Time to buy some more.Off-season in Calgary — that is, after Ramadan — you can only purchase them from Basha International Supermarket in the northeast, the bastion of our Asian and Middle Eastern...
Shoeless Joe

Shoeless Joe

At one time, Calgary, Canada, boasted the largest Scrabble club in North America. It was all due to Siri, who started it with a group of six British ex-pats like me. Siri became an evangelist for the game. “We’ll turn our membership into a hundred within the year,” he...
Out of the Frying Pan Into the Fire (part 3)

Out of the Frying Pan Into the Fire (part 3)

My first morning at Griffith Miles Sully & Co. was spent peering over a pristine desk, robbed of its usual mess of working papers and the obelisk of files piled this way or that — the epitome of a public accountant. No one came to supervise or run through any work...
Out of the Frying Pan Into the Fire (part 3)

Out of the Frying Pan Into the Fire (part 2)

At my previous firm, where I’d started in accounting, punctuality had been drilled into me. Consequently, I arrived at my new employer, Griffith Miles Sully & Co., shortly before 9 a.m. Instead of a converted Victorian house, I was installed on the second floor of...