Walter Roberson:
CLASS OF 1979
Confederation High SchoolClass of 1979
Nepean, ON
Confederation High SchoolClass of 1979
Ottawa, ON
Frank Ryan SchoolClass of 1975
Nepean, ON
Pope John XXIII SchoolClass of 1973
Nepean, ON
Pope John XXIII SchoolClass of 1973
Ottawa, ON
Walter's Story
I came. I saw. I did a little shopping.
I wasn't actually born in Nepean, but I grew up there from age 4 until adult, and was later to live not far away for a number of years. These days I live in Winnipeg (my job moved underneath me.)
I currently work as a scientific programmer for a scientific research organization -- getting to combine my three school loves of Math, Science, and Programming. Now if only they'd let me mix random chemicals in the lab, I could be a perfectly happy Mad Scientist :)
Before the current job, I worked for the same organization in Systems Administration and User Support, responsible for keeping all of the major computers and computer networks running smoothly and securely, and did scientific programming when called upon.
When I was younger, I took some time to travel and work in Europe, primarily in London and Stockholm.
London... is a fine place to visit if you have time and money, but can be very cold to the "working poor" who did not grow up there.
Anyone who has traveled around the Canadian Shield would feel very much at home in Stockholm. At least in that time and place, the people of Sweden treated me very well, and although Scandinavia is often thought of as being "too far out of the way", if you are looking for peace and nature and down-to-earth people, it is well worth the trip.
I also visited Japan for 3 weeks in 1987, fortunately in the company of a Japanese native. I cannot tell you much about Tokyo as we only passed through it, but we visited many interest...Expand for more
ing places with a deep sense of history. I don't think I would want to risk visiting without a guide, at least not the first few times -- especially if, like me, you have dietary restrictions.
Winnipeg: Yes, it is the coldest "medium sized city" in the world (other than Ulan Bator in Mongolia), but the humidity in winter is fairly low, so it gets less snow than Ottawa, and the cold does not "go right through you" the way it can during an Ottawa blizzard.
Winnipeg truly is a city of culture, a city in which everyone is welcome to produce art or music or theatre, or to provide real help to those who do. There is no social division between "performers" and "audience": the arts arise from the community.
On the other hand, Winnipeg is pretty isolated from other communities of any size -- the closest city that is even 1/10th as large as Winnipeg is Minneapolis / St. Paul, 7 hours drive away (plus an unpredictable amount of time crossing the border, if they let you through at all.) Calgary is 1000 miles, 14 hours driving. So unless you are heading to one of the provincial or national parks, or unless you like visiting towns that have a lower population (and less to do) than the Carleton University campus, once you are in Winnipeg, you tend to stay in Winnipeg, or to fly to your destination. You might not appreciate the cultural diversity within easy reach of Ottawa until you move somewhere where there is so little nearby.
Winnipeg is a good city to live in... "But you can't take the Nepean out of the boy."
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