Special Report: The Human Side of Cardiac Care

Daryl HattonCardiac, Health, Personal

On July 11th, 2014 at 6:25 PM Daryl Hatton, your experienced Action News Reporter, walked into the Emergency Department at Vancouver General Hospital to begin an in-depth first-hand look at emergency cardiac care in this city. The next eight articles will describe the personal side of this journey. They were originally designed as stand alone articles but have been combined into this special report with minimal editing. Here are the relevant posts: Heart Ache When you rule out… Live here at ICU First results are in By the numbers Learned overnight More learned overnight Learned over three weeks Please comment and …

What’s the best place to work with ADHD?

Daryl HattonEntrepreneurship

I’m traveling on business. Sitting alone in a noisy bar in Toronto. By choice. Plowing through my email. And making hay. A pretty young woman at the next table shouts, “How can you WORK in here???” Explaining it seems futile. Too loud. I shrug my shoulders and she turns back to her friends. But the truth is that, for me, it is a great place to work. As with many CEOs, I suffer from a mild case of ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). It is difficult for me to stay {SQUIRREL} on one thought or issue at a time. There …

Eulogy for Art Grunder

Daryl HattonPersonal

This speech was given at my step-dad Art Grunder’s Memorial Service Monday May 12, 2014. Speaking notes are below the video. For those who don’t know me, my name is Daryl Hatton. I’m Darlene’s eldest son. From her, I’ve inherited a predilection to cry over sappy commercials on TV so we’ll see how this talk goes. Right now I wish I had more of Art’s emotional calm… My mom had a tough time being single again after her divorce. For a while that period seemed much like a harsh Prairie winter which chills to the bone and makes you wonder …

English as a second language? It is hard enough as a first!

Daryl HattonHumor

If you can pronounce correctly every word in this poem, you will be speaking English better than 90% of the native English speakers in the world. After trying the verses, a Frenchman said he’d prefer six months of hard labour to reading six lines aloud. Read it aloud: Dearest creature in creation,Study English pronunciation.I will teach you in my verseSounds like corpse, corps, horse, and worse.I will keep you, Suzy, busy,Make your head with heat grow dizzy.Tear in eye, your dress will tear.So shall I! Oh hear my prayer. Just compare heart, beard, and heard,Dies and diet, lord and word,Sword …

Helping Competitors for Fun and Profit

Daryl HattonEntrepreneurship

I spent 90 minutes today helping a competitor with his business and I feel really good about it. We discussed challenges, strategies and market opportunities. Afterwards I made some introductions to people I think might be good to add to his team. I also introduced him to two customers we tried to sell on our solution but came up short. Many rational people would say, “What??? Why???” I asked myself the same questions. The answers that came back highlight some of my core philosophy and are worth sharing. Doing the right thing to help someone when you can is rarely …

My daughter McKenna’s poetry

Daryl HattonPersonal, Poetry

Prepared in 30 minutes for a Grade 11 science course assignment. There was a list of required words for the poem. She nailed it. Volatile Here sat an ancient volcanic neck, It stood tall and proud; a stacked card deck. From its peak, a once known crater,  Not what it used to be, now much later. Below lay a dormant vent, A downward shaft, slightly bent. And even more so was the dike, Which sprouted like a warping spike. Abase the tunnel lay the sill, Flat but flowing like’ melted chocolate spill. And even deeper, it rested tranquil, The batholith, …