Glenn Kubish

It’s been cold here.  Cold is a preserving agent.   Here are three things that left behind tracks of happiness and gratitude during a bike ride home through that cold.                               1. Cold comfort   I was breakfasted up, helmeted up, goggled up and ready to head into the dark December morning. First, though, a quick reality check with Siri from Cupertino. This is the actual convo: Me: Siri, what’s the temperature outside? Siri: It’s negative 26 degrees outside. Me: Well, that’s a rather negative comment. Siri: I’m sorry. Me: No, that’s what we say up here! Siri: Is there something else I can help with? Me: Well, if you can help with the temperature? Siri: It’s negative 27 degrees outside. Before another degree went south, I resolved up, opened the back door and walked outside into an atmospheric cloud of dryer exhaust, got on my fatbike and pedalled for downtown. Thirty seconds of ...

I asked Siri a simple question. Siri, asked I, what is the forecast for Edmonton? (I typically wait for Josh to answer the question on CTV, but, I was about to get on my bike, and needed to know. And the only entity at hand was designed in California.) Siri came back with this: Some bad weather coming up between today and December 14, 2015...down to -14 degrees Celsius. Being a child of the age of the fact-value distinction, I saw what Siri did there. I wanted a number, maybe some information about wind and snow, and what I got was a judgment. Not fair. So, while in the meteorontological mood, I asked Siri another question: why do you say cold weather is bad? Siri was evasive, offering to search. Typical. You don't think it's nice in Edmonton? I asked. No, I don't think it's particularly nice in Toronto, Glenn, Siri countered, sounding my first name like an exasperated mother figure computer program bot whatever. My point, I asked Siri next, was th...