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</head><body><p>For those who have not seen the message sent out by Don in this morning's mail:</p><p>------- Forwarded message -------<br></p>From: dfugler@cmhc-schl.gc.ca<br>Subject: My retirement<br>Date: Thu, 03 Feb 2011 08:15:53 -0500<br><br><font size="2" face="sans-serif">Good morning,</font>
<br>
<br><font size="2" face="sans-serif">I am retiring from CMHC. This is my
last week in the office. I have really enjoyed being a researcher for CMHC
and a good part of that stimulation has been working with you all: colleagues,
other researchers, the building industry, air quality specialists, journalists,
clients, and others. While there is still an abundance of research questions,
at least we have uncovered some of the answers. </font>
<br>
<br><font size="2" face="sans-serif">I will be checking this e-mail address
until the first week of March, as I use up accumulated vacation time.</font><br>
<br><font size="2" face="sans-serif">Thank you all. </font>
<br>
<br><font size="2" face="sans-serif">Don Fugler</font>
<br><font size="2" face="sans-serif">CMHC Policy and Research</font><br>------ End of forwarded material -----<br><p>A number of years ago, Don estimated that during his years at CMHC Research, he had pedaled about 70,000 kilometres on his daily commutes to and from work, year-round, through snow blizzards, drowning rain, stinging sleet, frying pan heat ... you name it, Don's probably pedaled through it to get to work .</p><p>At that time, I suggested to Don that he was not allowed to retire until he reached 100,000 km .</p><p>I guess Don turned over the "100,000 km" mark this week ? </p><p>Either that, or he spent 2 hours pedaling through yesterday morning's blizzard (yet again) and while breaking the ice off of his beard/moustache so that he could holler "SORRY ! EXCUSE ME !!!" at a fish-tailing SUV that came this > < close to smucking him, decided: </p><p> "Okay. That's The Last Straw. I'm quittin' this rat race and heading up to Nunavut (formerly the Northwest Territories) to where a guy can cycle through a blizzard in peace."</p><p>But (a little more) seriously:</p><p>My guess is that if one were to gather all of the SB-related research and testing done in Canada over the past 15 years or so, one would probably find that Don was instrumental in helping to bring it about. And the thing is, strawbale and natural building related topics are only one small aspect of the research that he has shepherded. </p><p>If the international SB community gave out something like a "Golden Sheaf" lapel pin in recognition of years invaluable service, Don would get a chestful of them. (Except that Don never wears suits so he'd have nothing to pin them to.)</p><p> </p><p>-- </p><div id="M2Signature"><div>=== * ===<br>Rob Tom<br>Kanata, Ontario, Canada<br>< A r c h i L o g i c at Y a h o o dot c a ><br>manually winnow the chaff from my edress if you hit "reply"</div></div></body></html>