Personal legacy project
Stevedore · Veteran · Diver · Advisor · Writer · Still Learning
Born in Montreal and raised in Vancouver, I am retired and use these pages to share the knowledge and hard-won lessons a lifetime of experience has given me. Everything here is free: no clients, no sponsors, and nothing to sell.
Read my full goals and rules, or jump directly to the rules.
I spent my working life as a stevedore, soldier, deep sea diver, financial and insurance advisor, and technology professional. The common thread was learning how systems work—and passing along what I learned.
I served with the Canadian Armed Forces—73 Canadian Signal Squadron, home unit 39 Service Battalion. In 1976–77 I served as a UN Peacekeeper with UNEF II in the Sinai Desert and Gaza Strip. I held dual trades: MSE Operator (MOC 935) and Radio Operator (MOC 211).
Back in 1982, when I had no fear, I jumped out of aircraft at Clearbrook, British Columbia, and at Dillingham Airfield in Hawaii. To me, skydiving felt safer than walking through minefields or swimming with sharks.
There was a simple reason for that confidence: in the air, you always had a second chance. If the main parachute failed, you still had your reserve chute.
“You always had a second chance with your reserve chute.”
I completed my deep sea diving diploma at the Divers' Institute of Technology. I also hold an Israeli CMAS diving certification from training in Eilat, Red Sea, in 1977.
The following licences were held during my working career and are no longer active:
Past President — Surrey CPVA (Canadian Forces veterans). VP — BC FM Communications. Director — VANLUG (Vancouver Linux User Group). Amateur Radio — callsigns VE7LEE, VE7LE, VA7REF.
I have experienced identity theft incidents over approximately 30 years, including exposure in large-scale data breaches. That experience shaped my approach to privacy and digital security.
I publish practical steps I use every day: hardware firewalls, decentralised VPNs, password managers, and reducing your personal attack surface.
I discovered Bitcoin in 2013, which reshaped my understanding of money, sovereignty, and institutional trust. I write about financial sovereignty, sustainable economics, digital self-determination, and the systems that shape people’s lives—often without their knowledge.
My aim is to help people learn by doing, not by following rigid prescriptions. I share frameworks, questions, and research—never “do exactly this.”
More than 20 subdomains cover finance, Bitcoin, tax, trust planning, privacy, geopolitics, and more. These are the major hubs.
If you’d like to get in touch:
info [at] tedlee.ca
Replace [at] with @ to email.