Back in the Deep Freeze
Another week has gone by and not much has happened. Work has been routine for the most part. I've rescheduled my Grand Rapids trip again... those big boys from the Head Office just run over us regardless of what we are doing or want... oh well, such is the life of an ant. LOL.. Anyways I'm now going to Michigan with my Dutch colleague on February 8th and then I return again for my originally scheduled trip on the third week of March.
Speaking of trips, a couple of friends have been in Playa Del Carmen since last Monday. I checked the weather all week and it looks like it rained every day. That sucks... It looked a bit better there for this weekend but really if they did get rain all the days I say rain then for over half their trip they had bad weather. I'll find out more when they get back. Poor guys, I feel bad for them. The resort however looked incredible. Five Star luxury with a giant pool and bar so I'm sure they found something to do ;)
I finished off my book on Genghis Khan by Jack Weatherford. I must confess it was quite fascinating. I knew next to nothing about the man other than some vague references from History classes taken decades ago about Mongol invasions as well as a reference in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales from Cegep....but even that was more about Kubilai Khan.
The tale that's told in this book unravels the somewhat hidden and suppressed story of the world's greatest military strategist of all time. He was the first to conquer vast regions using thousands of organized soldiers in precision lightening strike attacks.... Tactics that are copied and used today in the 21st century actually. Once conquered existing rulars remained in power locally, he later permitted freedoms of religion, ethnic diversity, laws against many of the most common tortures and the kidnapping of women. Because they were nomadic people that roamed the Mongolian Steppe they took goods and knowledge from all their conquered regions and brought them and their skills to Mongolia, introduced a paper currency in the 1200s (the first ever) to level out differences in commerce and trade in their territory; basically started the concept of international trade and the distribution of wealth and knowledge to everyday people... including the creation of mass book production. So in effect during his reign the Khans controlled everywhere from Germany to Iran to Singapore to China and of course Mongolia and back through Russia and everything inbetween.... basically all of Asia except Japan, the Arab world and Eastern Europe- a larger territory than any other conqueror before or since. They pillaged and raped it all destroying much in it's path before he took power but once in control it was Genghis Khan that stopped tribal fighting, set down a more liberal and just economic and political system everyone could accept and remain who they were and how they wanted to live their lives and practice their religion. They weren't Saints but for the 13th century they were progressive and in fact more tolerant than Europeans in many perspectives. They were compelled to gear everything towards religion so they were open to diversity and various types of freedoms of expression. It was only the Europeans in the 14th century that started to wipe out their history and demonize them to the point where today they are largely forgotten and ignored in the West. It's quite a remarkable gap in our knowledge of history (or at least mine)... so a good book to get aquainted with.
I stepped outside to get some fresh air. I'd been spending a lot of time uploading pictures on my Flickr site and I think I've been obcessing with it. It seems I've done nothing else all weekend. Well on Thursday and Friday it was record warm in Montreal, up around 6 or 7 degrees which is rare in January.... when I stepped out to wipe a light snowfall off the car I almost froze all the extremities on my body... It felt like -16 or -17 out there. The car was all frozen up. Sigh.... well it is January.
..anyways have a good week...
