By Darren Lum I’m not sure whether I understand life better now or if I’ve simply learned to look more closely, but I know this much: the older we get, the less we know—and the more we recognize our ignorance. As the months pass, I’m gaining confidence working on job sites, but I’m also expanding…
Stepping back from the partially finished fireplace, I noticed something I hadn’t seen while working so closely. The pattern was nearly complete on the cement board, the stones I’d been carefully placing for the living room’s centrepiece settling into a quiet harmony. Sometimes we don’t realize what we’ve created until we step back and see…
Amber Czech. Remember the name. She is the acetylene torch that will blaze through the dark corners of unsafe worksites—a touchstone reminding us that safety and inclusion are not optional. They are the backbone of every crew and the foundation for a brighter future. The 20-year-old Minnesota woman was allegedly killed on Nov. 11 by…
Words hold a power that’s often underestimated.They can sting. They can lift a mood. Sometimes, a word feels like an orphan — left hanging at the edge of a sentence, like we say in journalism. In construction, there’s the off-cut: a piece left behind after the framing is done. Easy to disregard. But those discarded…
We live in a time where each day feels like a quiet war — a pull between an analog life and a digital one.And most days, the digital wins. We don’t wake to the brilliance of the sun, but to the blue glow of our screens. The answers to life’s problems — or distractions from…
Respect runs through everything I do in the trades. Respect for others is a given – but respect for the inherent dangers, the tools, and the work itself is something I’ve grown into since stepping away from the office and onto job sites. A construction site can be a dangerous place. Between the tools, tripping…
When I was a child, my dad used to say, “A single stick can be broken easily, but bundle a few together and it’s nearly impossible.” It was his way of teaching us the value of unity—especially important in a house full of brothers who didn’t always get along. That lesson stuck with me, and…
After 23 years in journalism, I thought I knew work—how it shapes you, what it demands, what it teaches. But stepping away from the newsroom into the trades has shown me something else: work isn’t always about skills. Sometimes, it’s about what it reveals inside you. Every morning, I walk to a river where the…
It too shall past.
I’m not sure where I heard or read this, but …
The best times. The worst times. They all pass, eventually. Perhaps it was deeply set in my subconscious when I was wrestling with the Mikasa MTX60HD 4-cycle rammer for an hour (also known as a tamper), compacting backfill at a residence in Haliburton.
What do you need to start in the trades?
You know, the saying that it starts from within? It’s true.
There are three things to remember when starting anything new, particularly when it comes to an area of work that is a contrast to what you’re used to: Attitude. Attitude. Attitude.
