iFrom magazine

      The cost of good tripod for taking photographs is exuberant. Can you get by with a much cheaper one? There is a low cost one and a middle cost one. Perhaps the low cost one will do the job. It does not. It is a piece of junk, so you buy the middle cost one persuading  yourself it will be a big improvement on the low cost one. It is an improvement but it is clearly not the real thing and you know there is such available. The third purchase is the  expensive one. The marketing term is   versioning. I have witnessed this with snow shoe buying, power tool purchases, software packages and holiday excursions. I have heard of  tales of low cost guided cycling holidays where the bicycles often failed the definition of bicycle. 

            I call it the Luke syndrome. It  means  you bring up an issue  that  draws attention to  your own imperfection. There is often is no need to mention the subject that inevitably  draws fire from a person or group. We do it often. It seems we all have a bit of self-destruction programmed into our psychic. This is how I first identified the Luke Syndrome and have witnessed it repeatedly. I recognize myself when I do it; usually too late to avoid the consequences.              A group of us were staying at a ski cabin near Mount Baker.The two actors  who illuminated  the Luke syndrome were Byron and Luke. Byron   is funny because he so rude. He comes from somewhere in England near Scotland where abruptness is the norm. Luke is a polite calm  individual. It was during breakfast  that  Luke casually asked Byron  when was the next  ski club next meeting?  I looked at my remaining   piece of toast and marmalade  reached  for my tea and waited for the  expected  tirade from  Byron..

     A rite of passage that all males have to  go through.     I consider myself a polite male, and my interactions with young pretty girls, to be cordial and proper. It is true that I do notice a mild endearment from waitresses when accompanied by an out of town business men. I attribute this to being   always well groomed and possible my table mate making me look good with my reticence, since some of these visitors are a little flirtatious. The away from home  syndrome perhaps? This all changed for me when I was about forty two years old. I remember the time and place. It has since been re-acted   many times but never so dramatically. It  was mid week  when I went to dinner with  Andree in Ottawa; the Glebe region to be exact. For those you unfamiliar the Glebe area it is a trendy region bordering Bronson and the Rideau Canal. It has many boutiques and its history houses beg for writers to take up residences providing one member of the family works for National Defense or any other F