I clicked on a link that caught my eye today while reading some blogs. I've never been to this site before, but I'm very impressed with this post. It's a book/movie review for To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. I bought the DVD of this movie about a year ago. I've only watched it once since then, but I'm likely to watch it again soon after reading this commentary. I've always remembered the story as the one non-Shakespearean work of fiction that I really enjoyed studying in school.
Anyway, I can't comment any better than this person does, so here's the link. Enjoy!
(It's a bit of a long post, but well worth the read, especially if you're a fan of the story.)
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Excellent Service Must Be Tire-ing
I've had some stupid bad luck lately in the world of tires. A little less than 2 years ago I got new tires put on my car from Canadian Tire. I held out for a good deal on a higher quality tire, rather than the usual cheap tires I would've gotten. The tires have been fairy good up until recently.
A couple months ago, in Calgary, I had a flat on the driver side front tire. I threw the spare on and drove to the nearest Kal-Tire shop. $25 and about 15 minutes later I was on my way. Turns out there was a problem with the valve stem.
A couple weeks ago, I notice the passenger side front tire was getting low. I fill it up, but hear a bit of leaking air that would start or stop depending on how I pushed the valve stem. This time, I topped up the tire and took it to Canadian Tire and they fixed it under warranty. Unfortunately, it took about 2 hours.
Today, while driving home from work, I hear noises coming from that same tire. I drive past my house to a nearby gas station to check it out. I step out of the car, walk around expecting to see a flat tire, or at least low, but all the tires were full. I take a closer look at the passenger side front tire and I see it... a bolt was stuck in the tire tread. I try to pull it out, but it's really stuck in there. Eventually I pry it out. It turns out that it wasn't a short bolt stuck in the tread, but rather a long bolt stuck right in the tire. At this point, air is rushing out of my tire faster than Usain Bolt (no pun intended, or maybe it is) running across the finish line.
I go into the gas station store to see if they have some of that tire fix stuff. They do, but it's like $15, and I could get it properly fixed for just a few dollars more. So I throw the spare on again and drive over to the next nearest gas station that has a service shop attached. But the shop is closed by then, so I head back across town to Canadian Tire, where they have a 2.5 hour wait. Ugh!! I then drive downtown, find a tire shop that's closed, and then go to the other Canadian Tire. They could fix it in about 1.5 hours. By this point it's 5:45pm and I decide to try one more place. I go over to Kal-Tire at the Sears auto centre. I go in there, wait for a few minutes, and now I'm thinking that it's 5 minutes to close, and there's a slim chance they would even get to talk to me, let alone fix my tire. Boy was I surprised... The guy asks the usual questions and then takes my key. There was no hesitation! He goes out and pulls my car into the bay. He takes my tire out of the trunk and fixes it, replaces the spare, and even cleans and checks all my other tires. As he's pulling the car back out of the bay a mere 10 minutes later, the other guy comes out to the till and starts typing stuff up. He then says, "I just need your signature here." I walk up, sign the paper, take the other copy he hands me and I ask, "Is that it?" "Yup." "Wow, thanks!" Even though I didn't buy my tires through them, they waived the $19 tire fix fee on the grounds of it being under warranty.
I'm buying my next set of tires from Kal-Tire! Simply amazing service!
A couple months ago, in Calgary, I had a flat on the driver side front tire. I threw the spare on and drove to the nearest Kal-Tire shop. $25 and about 15 minutes later I was on my way. Turns out there was a problem with the valve stem.
A couple weeks ago, I notice the passenger side front tire was getting low. I fill it up, but hear a bit of leaking air that would start or stop depending on how I pushed the valve stem. This time, I topped up the tire and took it to Canadian Tire and they fixed it under warranty. Unfortunately, it took about 2 hours.
Today, while driving home from work, I hear noises coming from that same tire. I drive past my house to a nearby gas station to check it out. I step out of the car, walk around expecting to see a flat tire, or at least low, but all the tires were full. I take a closer look at the passenger side front tire and I see it... a bolt was stuck in the tire tread. I try to pull it out, but it's really stuck in there. Eventually I pry it out. It turns out that it wasn't a short bolt stuck in the tread, but rather a long bolt stuck right in the tire. At this point, air is rushing out of my tire faster than Usain Bolt (no pun intended, or maybe it is) running across the finish line.
I go into the gas station store to see if they have some of that tire fix stuff. They do, but it's like $15, and I could get it properly fixed for just a few dollars more. So I throw the spare on again and drive over to the next nearest gas station that has a service shop attached. But the shop is closed by then, so I head back across town to Canadian Tire, where they have a 2.5 hour wait. Ugh!! I then drive downtown, find a tire shop that's closed, and then go to the other Canadian Tire. They could fix it in about 1.5 hours. By this point it's 5:45pm and I decide to try one more place. I go over to Kal-Tire at the Sears auto centre. I go in there, wait for a few minutes, and now I'm thinking that it's 5 minutes to close, and there's a slim chance they would even get to talk to me, let alone fix my tire. Boy was I surprised... The guy asks the usual questions and then takes my key. There was no hesitation! He goes out and pulls my car into the bay. He takes my tire out of the trunk and fixes it, replaces the spare, and even cleans and checks all my other tires. As he's pulling the car back out of the bay a mere 10 minutes later, the other guy comes out to the till and starts typing stuff up. He then says, "I just need your signature here." I walk up, sign the paper, take the other copy he hands me and I ask, "Is that it?" "Yup." "Wow, thanks!" Even though I didn't buy my tires through them, they waived the $19 tire fix fee on the grounds of it being under warranty.
I'm buying my next set of tires from Kal-Tire! Simply amazing service!
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Where has the time gone? Oh yeah...
I didn't realize it's been almost a month since my last posting. I've been distracted by a few things:
The topic on which I've decided to opine this day is that of, well, all four topics above, actually...
First, for those who read this and may not know, my job title really doesn't accurately describe my role at work. While my title is Help Desk Analyst, it could better be described as Inventory Specialist/Software License Specialist/ Peripheral Technology Consultant/ Project Analyst/ Operational Integration Consultant/ Person Who Knows Too Much And Too Little At The Same Time! Heck, I don't even work at the Help Desk; I have my own little office down the hall. I started this job almost 7 months ago now, leaving 5 months on my 1 year contract (covering a maternity leave). In that 7 months, I have had a major influence in a number of decisions and procedures at the College. This gives me a measure of accomplishment that I don't think I've ever experienced in any previous job. Not that I don't think I've been an asset to people in my prior positions, but here I really get to see the fruits of my labours on an ongoing basis. Now if only the populace of College employees would follow the procedures that are in place, my life would be much easier!
My iPhone makes my life easier! (How's that for a transition?) I don't have the time or energy to write an in-depth analysis, or even review, of the iPhone at this time. It will come, I'm sure. All I want to say right now is that the novelty honeymoon is fading, and yet the utility of the device is really starting to shine. There's certainly no buyer's remorse here! (At least not until they come out with a newer one with better features and more memory, and longer battery life.)
The Olympics have really recharged my batteries! (Ok, that one was a stretch.) I've really enjoyed watching the coverage, flipping back and forth between CBC and NBC. I watched the men's 200m sprint live, and got to see Usain Bolt break Michael Johnson's seemingly unbeatable world record of 19.32 seconds with a run of just 19.30s, just a couple days after he broke the 100m record while pumping his fist and slapping his chest before crossing the line in a phenomenal 9.69s, crushing the old record of 9.72. And what can be said about American Michael Phelps that hasn't yet been said. Certainly the most dominant Olympian in the history of the modern games. Of course when your arm span is about 7 feet, you can almost reach the other side of the pool the moment you jump in, but that's besides the point. These games really have been a joy to follow.
Facebook is a joy to be on. I was one of the early adopters of the "new" Facebook, or "Faceliftbook" if you will. I've been on the site for more than 18 months now, and this is the biggest change to the interface I've seen since they first introduced applications. In fact, this is probably an even bigger change, visually speaking. That said, I love the changes. One of these days I'll have to write a complete review of Facebook on here. But until then, I'll just be busy playing on it.
Well, that's all for now. Time to go see what the Olympians are up to now...
- Work has been crazy busy lately, so when I come home, I pretty much just sit in front of the tube and relax.
- I got an iPhone, and while I could blog with it, it's not convenient for long posts. Though it's great for SMS messages (texting) and short emails, not to mention its thousands of other amazing features!!!
- The Olympics are on!!! (Need I say more?)
- I'm addicted to Facebook! It's sad, I know, but true!
The topic on which I've decided to opine this day is that of, well, all four topics above, actually...
First, for those who read this and may not know, my job title really doesn't accurately describe my role at work. While my title is Help Desk Analyst, it could better be described as Inventory Specialist/Software License Specialist/ Peripheral Technology Consultant/ Project Analyst/ Operational Integration Consultant/ Person Who Knows Too Much And Too Little At The Same Time! Heck, I don't even work at the Help Desk; I have my own little office down the hall. I started this job almost 7 months ago now, leaving 5 months on my 1 year contract (covering a maternity leave). In that 7 months, I have had a major influence in a number of decisions and procedures at the College. This gives me a measure of accomplishment that I don't think I've ever experienced in any previous job. Not that I don't think I've been an asset to people in my prior positions, but here I really get to see the fruits of my labours on an ongoing basis. Now if only the populace of College employees would follow the procedures that are in place, my life would be much easier!
My iPhone makes my life easier! (How's that for a transition?) I don't have the time or energy to write an in-depth analysis, or even review, of the iPhone at this time. It will come, I'm sure. All I want to say right now is that the novelty honeymoon is fading, and yet the utility of the device is really starting to shine. There's certainly no buyer's remorse here! (At least not until they come out with a newer one with better features and more memory, and longer battery life.)
The Olympics have really recharged my batteries! (Ok, that one was a stretch.) I've really enjoyed watching the coverage, flipping back and forth between CBC and NBC. I watched the men's 200m sprint live, and got to see Usain Bolt break Michael Johnson's seemingly unbeatable world record of 19.32 seconds with a run of just 19.30s, just a couple days after he broke the 100m record while pumping his fist and slapping his chest before crossing the line in a phenomenal 9.69s, crushing the old record of 9.72. And what can be said about American Michael Phelps that hasn't yet been said. Certainly the most dominant Olympian in the history of the modern games. Of course when your arm span is about 7 feet, you can almost reach the other side of the pool the moment you jump in, but that's besides the point. These games really have been a joy to follow.
Facebook is a joy to be on. I was one of the early adopters of the "new" Facebook, or "Faceliftbook" if you will. I've been on the site for more than 18 months now, and this is the biggest change to the interface I've seen since they first introduced applications. In fact, this is probably an even bigger change, visually speaking. That said, I love the changes. One of these days I'll have to write a complete review of Facebook on here. But until then, I'll just be busy playing on it.
Well, that's all for now. Time to go see what the Olympians are up to now...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
