Stupid Human Tricks (sometimes sans tricks)

Soap opera from my soap obx

2009-03-03T19:03:00.003-07:00

Ok, so it's been a while since I wrote on here. I've had a couple people pester me about it. Well, the time has come once again...

Oh, but it's rant time...

So I hop in the shower and I reach for my "shower gel" and I start to think about why nobody uses soap anymore. I just can't figure it out. I mean, people have been using soap for thousands of years. Have we, as a species, evolved some sort of chemical immunity to its effectiveness, or some sort of negative reaction to its substance? When was the announcement made (outside of advertisements, that is) that soap is harmful and/or ineffective? I have heard arguments against soap bars due to possible bacteria that can live on them (though an antibacterial soap should take care of that), but liquid soap should have no such susceptibility.

So why the trend toward other so-called "cleansers" and "detergents"? I'm no chemical expert, but how are we to know that these products and their components are less harmful and more effective than the dreaded soap. It wasn't that long ago that I remember seeing ads for Ivory soap touting its 99.44% purity ("A clean that's real as Ivory!") and how it was such a good thing for it to be pure soap. Now it's all about having as little soap in it as possible. I find it interesting how quick we are to adhere to the proclamations of advertising. Is there more to this than I know of?

I would love to get comments and information about this.

Thanks

One man’s opinion (namely mine):

2008-11-29T11:11:00.004-07:00

We can’t go outside because the sun gives us cancer. We can’t stay inside because the dust gives us cancer. You can’t eat butter because it’s fat and salty. You should eat butter because it’s natural and contains nutrients. You can’t eat eggs because of the cholesterol. You should eat eggs for the protein. You should run every day to strengthen your heart and tone your muscles. You shouldn’t run because it’s bad for your joints. So use a low impact exercise machine? No thanks, heavy breathing of indoor air is bad for you (dust). That said, breathing outdoor air is bad for you too (pollution). I’ve heard bad reports about just about every type of food, beverage, activity, location, and even medicine out there.

I’m of the theory that I just would rather live my life not stressed about these things. I understand the need of some people to be careful of the products they use because of potential toxic influences, but that’s not me. I don’t go seeking harmful chemical either, but let me put it this way…

I personally don’t care about all these contradictions, and I just do what I feel comfortable with. I’m not trying to convince anyone to do the same, but rather just expressing my opinion. We can’t live in a cocoon our whole lives protected from the elements of the world, and even if we could, that’s not the kind of life I’d want. I take notice and add to my awareness these kinds of reports, and I might find that it subconsciously affects my behaviour, but I don’t stress about it.

Thoughts?

Slowly walking on broken glass

2008-11-17T23:45:00.003-07:00

So this is an update on my last story...

Today I felt a little out of sorts again. This time the pain had moved to the left side. So after work I decided to go to the hospital and get checked out. I checked in at the Emergency desk, explained the situation, and had a seat in the waiting room. When I entered the waiting room there was only one person ahead of me. I figured I might be lucky and get in to see someone in a relatively short time. I sat and waited. And I waited. I saw people show up who looked in better/similar condition compared to me arrive and be taken in to see someone.

Just as I was beginning to wonder if I'd been forgotten (about 90 minutes after arriving), my name was called. The nurse quickly checked my pulse and temperature and asked an assistant to take me through to "Fast Track". That sounded good, I thought.

I was guided to a fairly large L-shaped room. Along the wall were about 9 or 10 chairs opposite a counter with a sink and a variety of medical supplies. Around the corner there were 2 beds and what looked like a dentist chair, each able to be separated by curtains. Across from the beds were more racks of medical supplies. Virtually everything that could possibly be used to create a splint, cast, sling, bandage, or a Frankenstein-esque creature. How could I possibly know the contents of this room in such great detail, you ask? Because I was there for more than another hour!!! I would've much rather spent that hour out in the regular waiting room.

I spent the first 45 minutes completely alone in this room, aside from one moment when a nurse, whom I actually knew, came in to get some supplies and assured me that it wouldn't be too much longer. Pretty soon a mother came in with her young daughter who had apparently had an x-ray taken already, and was waiting for the doctor to come and have a look. Then a girl in her late teens came in and was told to sit on one of the beds, as the curtain was drawn around her. She was left there alone, however, for a substantial time.

Eventually a doctor came in and called my name. I stood up and was asked to sit on the bed. She asked some questions, poked my stomach a bit, and told me everything was fine. She did offer the choice to me to have x-rays taken to be sure, since glass apparently will show up in an x-ray, but she said they wouldn't make much difference to any sort of treatment since there didn't appear to be any major pain that would be the result of any internal injury due to glass shards in my GI tract. I thought about it for a moment, and I realized that if it was just my stress that had caused me to feel all this pain, then the uncertainty of not having x-rays taken was not going to alleviate anything. I opted to have the x-rays taken.

I was called out into the hallway, given a gown, pointed to a bathroom and told to put it on. (Luckily I was told to keep my pants on, as this thing, despite being wide open in the back, also barely went beyond my hips in length.) I was directed to follow the green line (I felt like I was in the Wizard of Oz) back to the x-ray area. There I had three x-rays taken: one chest and two stomach. They then handed me a piece of paper to take back to Emergency (back down the yellow brick road) and then to return to my room. I went back to the bed and listened to the doctor explain the splint to the small girl with her mother. The doctor came back in to see me and assure me that there was no glass in the x-ray. While this alleviates a lot of the worry, I still felt (and still feel) a bit uneasy in the belly. Hopefully a good night's rest will cure this.

I suppose that lawsuit will have to be put on hold. (But I think I'll write the company anyway to explain just how dangerous this is. The doctor told me of the horrifying pain I'd likely be in if any glass did get in and cause any damage. Er... not pleasant.)

To sum up, I spent more than three hours at the hospital today, and could've walked out with nothing more than a couple pokes and an "it's nothing". Hooray for forced public health care!!!

I suck at blogging...

2008-11-16T23:41:00.004-07:00

Man, I've been terrible at this lately. I guess having a girlfriend is taking away all my blogging time. (That's right, I said it. I'm dating someone. If you want details, ask me. Don't ask on here as this isn't what I'm about to blog about...)

So... A couple days ago my girlfriend, her roommate and I all go out for the evening. We went to the University for an Opera Workshop. It was entitled The World Of Operetta. Essentially it was a collection of pieces from Operettas from various composers from around the world: English, German, French, and American. It was SO GOOD!!! But this isn't what I'm blogging about...

After the show, we went to Earls for a bite. We shared a pizza and then had desserts. I had ordered a ginger ale, which will come as no surprise to those who have eaten out with me in the past. (I love a good ginger ale!) Anyway, after the pizza was finished, I took another sip from my now nearly empty ginger ale. I noticed that I had sucked up a bit of ice through the straw, but that's nothing unusual. This one small sliver of ice, however, didn't seem to melt. In fact, it didn't even feel cold. I was about to crunch down on it, when I got the thought to pull it out of my mouth. Good thing! Turns out it wasn't ice at all. It was a small shard of broken glass!!! Of course I put it down and stopped drinking from the glass. Then it occurred to me... What if I had unwittingly swallowed some broken glass?!?! What do you do for that?!?! I sat there, nearly in shock at the mere thought, consumed by worry over the possibility that I could've just damaged my entire digestive system. As the waitress came by, I mentioned the problem. She took the shard to show the manager, and the pizza was comped, and a fresh ginger ale was supplied, which I carefully and hesitantly drank. I ordered my dessert, but ate only the ice cream, leaving the chocolate cake and toffee to be taken home and eaten at my leisure. (It still sits in my fridge awaiting its consumption.) As we nervously left, I felt a little nauseous, but purely due to my nerves. I eventually got my mind off of it, and I felt better.

The next day (Saturday) I hardly thought about it all day. I had breakfast. I went shopping. I had a greasy lunch when I did think about it; I figured I might as well lubricate the glass. I went grocery shopping and watched the fights. No stressing about it. I figured I must have been fine.

Then this morning as I got out of bed I realized that I felt a pain in my gut. At first I thought it was just my body deciding it didn't feel like getting up. But as I began to move around and wake myself up, the pain didn't subside. I'm not claiming that this pain had anything to do with any glass, but after a few minutes I started to wonder. I stayed at home most of the day and tried to get my mind off of it. The pain has mostly subsided, but there's still a definite discomfort. If it's not gone by tomorrow afternoon, I'm going to see a doctor. I'll keep you posted.

Oh, and if it turns out that I did swallow glass, I'm totally suing!

Seven Random Things (tagged by Vicky)

2008-10-27T08:47:00.003-06:00

(England post is coming soon, still getting pics up on facebook.)

Seven random things about me:

1. I love to play my guitar, but I get bored of it and go months without playing sometimes.

2. I love to ride my motorbike, but I get bored of it and go months without riding sometimes.

3. I love running, but I get bored of it and go months without running sometimes. (I'm noticing a theme here.)

4. I'd like to go back to school in a couple years and get a Masters Degree.

5. I think my next vehicle will be either a sports car (Mustang maybe?) or a small pickup truck (Tacoma maybe?), but I haven't decided which yet.

6. I love my iPhone, but it so hard to find a case that I like for it. Griffin has one called the Elan Clip, which I love, but I've broken three of them already. If they made the belt clip mechanism out of metal instead of plastic I'd pay twice as much for it.

7. I'm a very picky eater, particularly when it comes to veggies. I love broccoli but I hate cauliflower. I love carrots but I hate celery. I love cucumbers but I hate pickles.

Tag seven people:
I don't even think I have seven people who read my blog; if you read this and you haven't already done it, consider yourself tagged.

Sorry for the hiatus...

2008-10-22T20:02:00.002-06:00

Ok, so it's been a few weeks since I posted. I've been on vacation, and I've been sorta busy with other activities. Anyway, I'm preparing to post an entry all about my vacation soon. Stay tuned, it won't be too long.

What the truck?!?!

2008-09-15T17:00:00.003-06:00

I was driving home from work today and listening to the radio when an ad came on for a local Nissan dealership. I've heard some pretty crazy gimmicks to try to get you to buy a vehicle before, but this one takes the cake.

Buy a truck and get a car for free! That's right! If you buy a Titan, you get a decently equipped Versa for free!!! There are bound to be some interesting wheelings and dealings between friends looking for new rides. (Sorry, I just couldn't resist.)

Tip O' The Mornin' To Ya!

2008-09-07T15:37:00.002-06:00

I've heard a few debates about this topic on the radio, and I have a recent story that has brought it back to the forefront.

Yesterday, I went to get my hair cut. The lady was not much for conversation. In fact, she even said a few things that were inappropriate for the situation. Anyway, she finishes cutting my hair, and I go to pay for it. I didn't have cash, so I use debit and the keypad asks me to input the tip. I just hit enter (not tip) and then confirmed the total and my PIN. She "politely" thanks me with a bit of a restrained glare, as I left. So here's the question: when should you tip?

I should clarify that I didn't refuse to tip because of the inappropriate conversation so much as I did because of the venue. Let me explain: I understand the purpose of a tip at a restaurant, and I'm generally quite generous with those tips. At a restaurant, your bill pays largely for the food (hence the variance in price dependant on the dish you order), and then the tip is added in respect to the extent that the service is acceptable or even excellent. At a haircutter's, on the other hand, the entire bill is for the service of cutting your hair. Now I've had occasions when the person cutting my hair went beyond expectations and I've tipped them. That said, I don't think that a tip should be expected in such a business.

I think most would agree that a standard tip is usually around 15%, and that this can vary based on the service. But where should a tip be offered, where should it not be offered, and where should it be asked for? Any thoughts?

In Palin sight...

2008-09-06T12:34:00.002-06:00

I don't generally like to get political on this blog, but I've been involved in an interesting discussion over at my friend Matt's blog. He's what I would consider a moderate liberal, and he recently wrote an entry on Governor Palin's nomination. Between Matt, a mutual friend Dusty, Matt's brother-in-law Nathaniel, and I, we've had quite a good debate going on. The later comments are turning into more of a pissing match than anything else, but there was some good substance early on. I don't know if any of my readers are remotely interested in US politics, but if you are, it might be worth a look. (You'll know my posts as they often include a grammar correction about another post.)

Regardless of what you may think...

2008-09-03T11:22:00.002-06:00

Irregardless is not a real word!!! So says Washington State University anyway. And while o t h e r s may disagree, I think we should abandon its usage in the English language. I cringe when I hear it, and I feel queasy when I read it! It should be noted that, while I found plenty of references to its actuality as a word (each letter in the word "other" above contains a different link), there appears to be an agreement that this word should not be used, especially in writing, as it is considered "incorrect" or "nonstandard".

(Sorry for the rant. Some guy near my office was just using the word about 50 times in a conversation with another guy. I was nearly brought to tears!)

Killing time...

2008-08-28T23:38:00.002-06:00

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.)

Excellent Service Must Be Tire-ing

2008-08-21T18:30:00.004-06:00

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!

Where has the time gone? Oh yeah...

2008-08-20T23:09:00.005-06:00

I didn't realize it's been almost a month since my last posting. I've been distracted by a few things:

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!

Anyway, now that the Women's beach volleyball is over, I figured I'd pry myself off the couch to opine for a moment.

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...

United we stand... still

2008-07-25T08:42:00.004-06:00

After reading, and commenting on, my sister's blog post about the gaffe in her union policy regarding raises, I decided to write a little about my opinion on unions in general. (Full disclosure, though working for a different employer, I am a member of the same union, AUPE, as her.)

I've been a union employee for about 6 months now, and in my personal experience I haven't
noticed much difference, aside from them skimming a little off of my pay-cheque each month, and getting a bunch of extra reading material when I started my job. Sure, I got a card in the mail that entitles me to some token discounts at places around the province, all of which are either too far away to make them worthwhile, or are of no interest to me, but I don't really get the sense of someone "fighting on my behalf" or any of that other bull-puckey that is commonly associated with the concept of Unions.

I have no doubt that I enjoy many benefits as a result of previous union arbitrations, and I'm sure there are some who enjoy many day-to-day benefits as a result of their membership in this same union. However, I also feel that unions can be a hindrance. Allow me to explain...

I feel I should preface my argument with the disclosure that I am not a Communist, Marxist, Liberal, Progressive, or subscriber to the philosophy of wealth distribution. I'm sure this will be rightly apparent as I continue, but I thought I'd just throw that out there so people don't try to convince me of the value of unions by using those principles. You'll have to use arguments that support Capitalism, Free Market, Economic Conservatism, and the philosophy of "A man is worthy of his hire" to convince me. But I digress...

A union, in my observation only, with no regard to official definitions, is a group of people of similar employ that is led by a representative body that bargains with their employers to ensure that the rights and needs of the employee are met in a fair and satisfactory manner. Now I don't see an inherent problem in that concept; rather the problem comes, as it so often does, when the concept is put into practise. The problem comes when people of varying abilities, skill levels, work ethics, and - if I can be perfectly blunt - value to the employer are suddenly treated by the same set of guidelines. Sure, there is a variety of salary ranges depending on the positions held, but in nearly every other aspect they're treated the same. In this sense, a system designed to increase fairness can have the exact opposite effect.

Is it fair, for example, that everyone is entitled to the same raise regardless of job performance? I know they will make stipulations for exceptions, but they are rarely enacted. Is it fair that one employee might take 15-20 sporadic sick days in a year, and still get full pay, vacation, etc. while that person's co-worker, who feels guilty for calling in sick unless desperately ill, takes only 1 sick day in the same amount of time and is compensated identically? Is it fair that an employer's hands are tied when wanting to promote from within due to union regulations, finding it easier to look outside to fill a position that could deservingly go to a current employee? I know these issues aren't exclusively union issues, but I find that when a union is involved, an employer is less likely to "bend the rules" for a deserving employee, because they'll have to answer to the union for it, creating a hassle that an employer doesn't want to deal with. It is this same hassle that causes the exception stipulations to be rarely enacted.

I'm sure unions aren't all that bad for many people, and in many economically volatile occupations I'm sure they're a huge benefit. I just find them to be too counter-productive for my liking. I sometimes wish there was an easy way when you started a union job to "opt out" of the union. Of course, that would likely cause a rift between the union and non-union employees doing the same job and being treated differently. People would constantly be opting in and out of the union in order to suit their changing individual needs. This would likely be even more counter-productive than just leaving the union as is.

Anyway, what do you think? I'd like to hear some comments on your views of unions. Do you love them? Hate them? Are you somewhere in the middle? Or perhaps you either don't care or don't have enough experience with them to have an opinion. Do you think I'm right on the money? Or do you think I'm way off base and have no idea what I'm talking about (which is highly possible)?

Signs of the times

2008-07-23T21:22:00.003-06:00

In case you didn't know, the following signs are not the same:

Update: Prospective passport picture perfect

2008-07-18T18:30:00.003-06:00

For those who have been following my saga (see three previous posts), this post is a long time coming. Today, I went BACK to the Service Canada office to have my passport application screened and paid for. I sat there waiting for over half an hour, but in time I got called to go to the next available desk. There were a few nervous moments, as I had a different person screening my application this time, and she seemed a bit unsure about things after I explained everything to her. (She didn't exactly seem like a prime candidate to join the local chapter of MENSA, if that tells you anything.) Anyway, eventually we get things sorted out and they take the application, I make payment, and leave with receipt in tow. Now, the fact that I had to send in my Certificate of Canadian Citizenship in with my application means that for the next 5 or 6 weeks I can't even drive over the US border. Granted, I didn't exactly have any immediate plans to drive to the States, but it's always comforting to know the option is there.

Oh, and I went to the Rogers store. They had 2 8GB iPhones in stock, but I'm holding out for the 16GB. Unless of course the Blackberry Bold comes out soon. GAH!!! I can't decide!!! (Yes I can, I'm going iPhone! For now...)

Update: All's well that ends well! Well...

2008-07-17T17:33:00.002-06:00

Ok, so here's the latest on the Sears studio saga... (trademark pending)

After work today, I headed over to Sears again. Lo and behold, the lights in the portrait studio were actually on!! Not only that, but someone was actually there!!! I calmly, yet sternly, explained the situation. I did use the word "ridiculous" a couple of times when explaining how I had to come back three times in order to get a refund or retakes. Well, the lady there this time was very understanding, and she offered to both refund my money and retake the photos. I was glad, because I would've felt bad yelling at her since she was so nice. Anyway, while we still had to take the pictures a dozen times or so, she actually made both a colour set and a black & white set of the best one for me to take to the passport office. Hopefully between the two sets, the passport people will be able to approve one of them. I'll find out tomorrow when I go to the passport office again.

Even the lady at the studio seemed a little unsure of why the equipment they have has such a hard time taking passport photos that meet the requirements. And I still wouldn't recommend getting your passport photos done there. That said, I'm satisfied with their eventual efforts to make amends. Stay tuned for the finale...

Update: Passport Photo Woes

2008-07-16T17:29:00.001-06:00

Ok, so after I couldn't get my pictures retaken yesterday after work (see yesterday's post), I decided to try today. After work, I drove over to Sears. I walk in and once again the Portrait Studio was dark. This time, however, there was no sign, nobody there, nothing! I walked around to find anyone that might be able to help me. I found someone in the Electronics department who tried to call around, and eventually took me over to the Catalogue desk. Turns out that the Portrait Studio is contracted out, so they make their own hours, and just leave whenever they feel like it if they have no appointments. This is appalling!! The helpful electronics guy is going to make sure they stick around tomorrow, and I will also call in. When I go in there, I'm going to raise one hell of a fuss!! I wouldn't want to be the poor person working there tomorrow. They are going to refund my money AND retake the pictures, and I won't settle for anything less! I can't believe I have to go back three times because they just feel like closing up shop with no warning!
I've never heard of anything like that before!

NEVER, NEVER, NEVER go to Sears Portrait Studio in Lethbridge!!! (If they don't both retake my pictures AND refund my payment, I'm going to report them to the BBB!)

Adventures in passport-getting

2008-07-15T20:31:00.003-06:00

I'm trying to apply for my passport so I can go to England in the fall (see post below). Part of this process, of course, involves submitting pictures that meet strict requirements. I think they possibly go a little overboard with these requirements, but nonetheless they are set in place and standard nationwide. These standards are well known to all photography studios in Canada, and I would think that any photographer that offers passport photos as a standard service would be capable of taking photos that fit the requirements. Unfortunately, I would be incorrect in that assumption.

I went in to Sears last Thursday to get these photos taken. Due to my aversion toward Wal-Mart and the evening hours in which I sought them, Sears seemed the logical choice. I walked in to the Portrait Studio, and was immediately taken to the actual studio to have the photo taken. I was quite pleased with the swiftness of the service. The girl adjusted the lights, snapped the photo, and said, "let's try another." She then repeated the process, and again wanted another. All told, she kept going back and adjusting the lights and taking more shots until she had taken about a dozen shots. Finally, she was satisfied. She printed them off, stamped the backs, folded each in a scrap of paper (to keep from smudging), charged my the $19 fee, and I was on my way with photos in hand.

After getting one signed by my guarantor, and finalizing the rest of my paperwork, I decided today to take them to the office in town on my lunch break. They don't process the application here, but they will pre-screen everything and take the payment. As I sat down with the lady today, she took one look at the pictures and said that she would have to reject them. Really?! After sitting for about 12 snapshots, the best one still wasn't good enough?! Anyway, she looked over the rest of the application, and said it was only the photos that needed to be redone, and that Sears should retake them for free.

After work, I decide to go straight to Sears and get them redone. I walk into the Portrait Sudio and there's a sign on the desk stating "Due to unforseen circumstances, the Portrait Studio is closed for the remainder of the day. We will re-open at 9:30am tomorrow. Sorry for any inconvenience." Inconvenience?!?! How about the fact that I have to come back and get these pictures retaken in the first place? Now that's inconvenient!

Moral of the story: don't get your passport photos done at the Sears in Lethbridge!!! (The lady at the government office said they've actually had a few issues with the Sears here.)

What to do... what to do...

2008-07-12T11:49:00.002-06:00

So I've got a few dilemmas to figure out. Perhaps some of you can offer insight.

First, I'm planning a two week trip to England in the fall, and I need some ideas of places to go, things to see, etc. What are some places that are must-see, and what are some places that are better missed? In case any read this who don't know already, I was born in England, moved to Canada when I was 4, and haven't been back since. I'm very excited to go back, if only for a couple weeks. I'll have my dad with me for the first week, and then I'll be on my own for a week. Any ideas?

Secondly, the iPhone just made it into Canada. I'm trying to decide between the following two options:

I buy an iPhone.
I buy a Blackberry and an iPod touch.

The rate plans for the iPhone and the Blackberry are similar to one another (or they are now, after Rogers was pressured into lowering their projected iPone rate plans after much public outcry), and so it's really a matter of features. Do I want my main music player to be integrated into my phone? Do I want full GPS with route mapping and turn-by-turn directions (not included with iPhone)? Do I want to have the latest and greatest in gadgets? Should I hold off on the iPhone until they improve some of their issues? Should I look at an iPhone alternative (i.e. another touch screen phone)? Do I even want a touch screen phone, especially a touch screen only phone (I can text & drive fairly safely with actual buttons, since I don't have to keep looking at the screen)? Let me know what you think.

How long could you survive in the vacuum of space?

2008-06-30T04:11:00.002-06:00

I took this 6 question quiz and was amazed at how long I would actually survive! I'm sure it wouldn't be the most pleasant 77 seconds of my life. How long would you survive? Take the quiz and write your answer in the comments.

OnePlusYou Quizzes and Widgets

HEAR I go again...

2008-06-25T12:55:00.008-06:00

That's right, it's time for another rant. I think I've made my feelings fairly clear about how important I feel proper grammar is to our society. Until now, however, I've been referring to the use of this blessed English language by the populace at large. It is now my displeasure to present to you a much more insidious and mind-blowing lunacy, one of proportions the likes of which could only be conjured up by the most Tarantino-esque of minds. I speak, of course, of the professional Newspaper editor.

I was sitting in a nearby Arby's restaurant for lunch today, and there was a copy of the Lethbridge Herald sitting on the table. As I was eating, I read a few articles and I eventually got to the editorial section, which in this high-class publication is affectionately titled "Opinions". The editor wrote an article, Graffiti is clearly not art in this city, about the new local bylaw being enacted to reduce vandalism in the city, commonly known as the Lethbridge Graffiti Bylaw. I have no qualms with the intended content of the article. The unnamed editor had some good points to share, and the thought progression seemed to flow quite naturally. The problem is in the manner in which those thoughts were put into words. I will pull a few lines here to demonstrate my point.

The article opens with:

Make no mistake, graffiti — at least in Lethbridge — is vandalism, plain and simple. And for those who don’t subscribe to that theory, we’ve got minimum $10,000 fines and up to six months in jail that say otherwise.

The second sentence certainly relies enough on the first that it is not strong enough to break the rule of not starting sentences with "And". Furthermore, who is the "we" that has these fines and jail terms for non-subscribers? That sounds a little too much like pushy newspaper marketing for my likes. Moving on:

Seem a bit harsh? Perhaps. But the reality is council needed to take a strong stand and back cleanup efforts with more than rhetoric — the time had come for a dramatic deterrent.

Is "Seem a bit harsh" a sentence on it's own? No! Does what seem a bit harsh? Neither should the following sentence begin with "But". A comma, when used correctly, is a wonderful tool to help convey a clear message. I'm not even going to start on the incorrect use of the hyphen in this example. I could be here all day!

One doesn’t have to look far from home, regardless what part of the city you reside, to view the growing scourge on our neighbourhoods.

I wonder what part of the city I reside. Also, shouldn't it be "You don't have to look far..." if you're going to continue with the second person narrative in the second half of the sentence?

Then there’s also the highly questionable fines of between $500 and $2,000 for those possessing graffiti-making materials.

Is it just me, or does the phrase "Then there's also" seem a little redundant? Using either "then" or "also" would've been plenty sufficient. And correct me if I'm wrong, but "there's" should refer to the existence of a single thing, whereas "fines" is plural. (Wow, a sentence can begin with "And" if it's independent enough from the preceding sentence.)

Finally, the conclusion:

Hopefully the message the new bylaw sends will be heard loudly and clearly enough to have to the desired effect of curtailing or eradicating the problem — otherwise, we could be looking a whole new kind of mess.

I shudder at this hyphen, but there is something far worse here. Reading this article, I'm already "looking [at] a whole new kind of mess."

It's not the fact that there was an error in the newspaper that bothers me. Rather, it's the fact that there were so many glaringly obvious errors in such a short article, that was written by an editor, that really gets my blood boiling. Here is someone whose profession it is to write and oversee the writing in a supposedly professional publication. I know I may be overreacting here, but it occurs to me that if I performed my job with such haphazard disregard, I wouldn't make it a week before being fired, and likely banned from any further employment in the field.

Kudos to the Lethbridge Herald; you've really outdone yourselves this time!

Warning: THEIR is a rant coming...

2008-06-11T17:53:00.004-06:00

The time has come for my first official blog rant regarding grammar! I am getting so tired of seeing the words "there", "they're" and "their" mixed up. It's really not that difficult. There's also the issues of "then" and "than", "your" and "you're", and the apostrophe conundrum. Let me begin:

There - They're - Their

There: opposite of "here"; has many uses not including those for "they're" and "their".

They're: contraction for "they are"; if the sentence means the same if you interchange "they're" and "they are", then you can use "they're", but you should not use "there" or "their".

Their: belonging to them; when referring to something as belonging to "them", it would be acceptable to use the word "their".

Then - Than

Then: it follows that; "Then" can be used to indicate chronological sequentiality, conditional effects, or any other resultant situation.

Than: compared to; when a characteristic is placed in comparison to something else, either explicit or implicit, "than" can be used.

Your - You're

Your: belonging to you; much like "their", but the possessor is "you" as opposed to "them".

You're: contraction for "you are"; if the sentence holds its meaning when replacing "you're" with "you are" then you should not use "your".

Apostrophe

Contraction: there are a variety of situations where two words can be combined into one, and an apostrophe is used in place of omitted letters.

Possessive: when referring to a possessive situation, an apostrophe is placed at the end of the possessor followed by an "s", unless the word already ends in "s" in which case there is no additional "s" added. Exception: "Its" is possessive. ("It's" is a contraction for "it is".)

There are other apostrophe rules, but these should cover 99% of situations.

I have a few other grammar rules about which I'm rather anal, but I'll leave those for another day.

- Grammar Nazi

(P.S. Did you catch the rule that I awkwardly followed in my last sentence?)

The bottom line: it's worth the splurge

2008-06-07T09:17:00.005-06:00

Everyone knows that there are a number of things you can save a few bucks on here and there by buying generic or store brands. It would be reasonable, I think, to save a couple bucks this way when buying cookies, juice, air freshener, sponges, car wax, glue, etc., etc., etc.

However, there are two things that, in my opinion, must not be skimped on:
1. Breakfast Cereal - especially frosted flakes. I once tried the ones you get in a big bag. They tasted like they had been - what's the right term here - previously digested. They were horrible. But that's not what I'm talking about today.
2. Toilet Paper - I don't care how manly I'm supposed to be, I simply don't like wiping my butt with sandpaper. And conversely, I'm not a big fan of using tissue paper that shreds to pieces leaving my - here comes that term again - previously digested material all over my fingers. It is this topic which I am addressing today.

I've been quite happy with my "bathroom tissue" purchases over the past few years. I seemed to have settled on Purex as my brand of choice, they've got the cute little pillows flying around in their commercial. On a recent trip to the grocery store, I was in the "personal paper products" section and I remembered that I was running low. As I look for the best value on Purex, I noticed that the package I wanted had run out on the shelf. I looked around at some other options, and I noticed a promotion on another brand that I hadn't tried before. The price was slightly better, due to the promotion, but as I've already established, one should be willing to pay extra for the royal rump treatment. Hesitantly, I grabbed a 32-roll pack of this other brand's toilet paper.

When I recently changed rolls and used this new brand, I discovered something remarkable. Charmin Extra Strong is like wiping your arse with a soft, yet strong, sponge. This stuff is AMAZING! In fact, even if you were to spend more on this, you'd likely still save money, as the squares go much further. I find myself using just 3 squares for jobs that previously would've warranted a good 5-6 squares (you know the kind of jobs I'm talking about). And even with the smaller number of sheets, there seems to be no risk of the stuff disintegrating in your hands. I'm about ready to write these guys and tell them they've made the best thing onto which I've ever wiped my excess feces! (That could be a bigger claim for some to make than others.)

I only have one problem with this: their commercials! Have you seen these ones with the cartoon bears? The latest ones, for exactly the variety (does it seem odd to anyone that they have varieties of bathroom tissue?) that I'm using, show a father bear playing football with his son, and as the son bends over to hike the ball, the father bear sees little pieces of toilet paper scattered around on the young cub's caboose. You know, I dislike having little bits of paper stuck to my buttocks as much as the next guy, however I don't think I've ever been concerned that someone might see them while playing football. (Mind you, I've never played football at a naturalist retreat.)

Oh, and pun intended, by the way.

Cha, cha, cha... Charmin!

Anonymous comments

2008-05-27T10:01:00.008-06:00

So I wasn't sure if I would do anything about this, but I decided I will...

I received an anonymous comment on my last entry. I promptly deleted it, not because it was embarrassing or rude (if this were the case, I wouldn't be quoting it here), but rather because I didn't want a string of comments about that comment where I would prefer the comments for that post to about that post.

Here then is the comment in question:

"You suck at blogging! Much ado about nothing!
Please stop thinking aloud! Keep the boring thoughts to yourself!"

First let me just say that I appreciate the comparison to Shakespeare! And if "You suck at blogging" is anything like "You Suck At Photoshop" (check it out on YouTube, very funny stuff), then again, I'm flattered.

Without being too combative, I must admit that posting a comment that says, "Please stop thinking aloud! Keep the boring thoughts to yourself!" could also be quite self-referential. Aside from this, it's also fair to point out that I have never been one to promote my blog to the general public. As such, I suppose I have been keeping my thoughts to myself, but thanks for supporting my current actions.

I guess what I'm really getting at here is:
a) This doesn't really bother me, but I do like having fun with such comments; and
b) I find it interesting that people hide behind the mask of anonymity in order to keep from being revealed as hypocritical.

Winners and losers

2008-05-24T15:58:00.003-06:00

Wow, the spirit of competition is alive and well in my world right now. And by "my world" I mean the stuff I watch on TV!

NHL Playoffs:
The playoffs are nearing an end, as the final round begins today. I'm hoping Detroit (I can't believe I'm actually saying this) wins the Stanley Cup this year. I'm no Detroit Red Wings fan, by any stretch of the imagination, but I also don't want to see Pittsburgh win the Cup. There's far too much hype around Sidney Crosby, and if nothing else, I don't want them to win because he should not be wearing the 'C' on his jersey! The only player on that team who should have even been considered for the role of Captain is Gary Roberts! He's payed his dues more than anyone else there. Besides this, if Pittsburgh wins, there will suddenly be this (temporary, I'm sure) resurgence of support for the Penguins, and they won't be able to relocate to Canada, where they should be! But anyway, that's my rant for the day. Onto other competition...

American Idol:
The "Battle of the Davids" concluded this week. Let's face it, we all knew these would be the final two before the top 12. This season of Idol was the only American one I've ever watched from beginning to end. I've seen a few odd episodes of previous seasons, and I watched one full season of Canadian Idol (BTW, Theresa Sokyrka was way better than Kalan Porter!), but I've never seen quite as much talent as I saw during this entire season. Michael Johns was the one that got me hooked when he sang Bohemian Rhapsody during the top 100. There were even people who didn't make the top 24 that I would've loved to hear more of. That said, there was certainly no shortage of questionable singers that made it quite far. Oh well. On to the roundup.

The top 5, I would easily buy albums from any of these 5. They all have very unique styles. They all have amazing vocal ability. They all are entertaining in their own way. But... The choice came down to two things: vocal ability vs. performance ability. I've heard a few people complaining that the American public got it wrong, that Archuleta was the superior singer, and that Cook's vocal abilities were weak in comparison. I agree, sort of. Archuleta was indeed the better vocalist; I don't think anyone can really argue against this. However, Cook brought so much more to the stage. Cook was a performance artist, and an excellent one at that. He came out on the stage with confidence, did his thing, was grateful for any praise and/or criticism, and was still confident and ready to roll again at a moment's notice. Archuleta, on the other hand, was bashful to a fault as soon as the song was done. He didn't know how to handle the adoration or the criticism. And worst of all, he came out and sang the same song every week! Okay, not literally the same song, but if you saw the performances, you know what I mean. He just didn't display the versatility that Cook did. The fact is that over 50 million people voted for Cook, who won by over 12 million votes. I don't believe the final night of voting was his best night, but the voters obviously chose who they thought was better over all. If you have any doubt about Cook's validity as a star, just look back at some of his performances (you can find them on YouTube), such as Hello, or Billie Jean.

UFC:
Speaking of one-on-one battles, there have been some amazing UFC fights lately! From the success of local Jason Day (from Ft. Macleod, fighting out of Lethbridge), who won his UFC debut in UFC 83, to the return of GSP (Georges St. Pierre) to undisputed champion status after defeating Matt Serra at the same event in Montreal last month. Tonight UFC 84 takes place with a great, though not quite as great, card lined up. I'm excited to see Sherk beat Penn, but even more excited to watch Ortiz lose what could be his last ever fight in the UFC. I'm also hoping Silva can beat Jardine.

Over the last couple years I've been growing more and more into a fan of MMA in general, especially UFC. As I learn more about the sport, I find myself being able to analyze the moves of the fighters, the strategy involved, and the shear talent that some of them possess. MMA is certainly the best of all the combat sports, and makes boxing look like a game for kids. I might even be willing to say that I'm probably now a bigger MMA fan than I am a hockey fan. And that's saying a lot! I totally understand how it's not something that everyone would be interested in, since on the surface it appears either barbaric (there can sometimes be a lot of blood) or boring (the ground game isn't too exciting unless you know what to look for). That said, for anyone willing to get through the surface and see what's really happening, it really is an amazing sport with some of the best athletes I've ever seen.

So that's it. Throw in some NBA finals (which I've not really been following), the WHL playoffs (Lethbridge Hurricanes only lost to the team that will likely be the Memorial Cups winners before the weekend is through), and the baseball season starting up (snore-fest for the first half of the season, as always), and there's certainly no shortage of competition to talk about. Oh, and let's not forget So You Think You Can Dance! (Actually, can we please forget it?) I'm looking forward to seeing if this coming season of Canadian Idol is going to be any good.

Wow, 2 blog posts this week! I wonder if I can keep this up.

At last (or alas), I return!!!

2008-05-23T13:49:00.003-06:00

I probably shouldn't be sitting here blogging while at work, especially since I've got tons to do today, but what's done is done (or will be by the time I click the "Publish Post" button).

Last night I discovered Google Reader. I've added 8 feeds so far. I've been catching up on some blogs, and now I finally feel re-motivated to post again. Mind you, this post is pretty much just self-referential, so we'll have to see how things develop in the future. Wish me luck!!!

It's me, Simpsonized

2007-08-03T11:44:00.001-06:00

New internet service...

2007-07-25T10:31:00.000-06:00

Ok, so it's been a LONG time since I updated this, I know. Sorry. Anyway, rather than catch everyone up on the past few months, I'll just start from now. So last week we had a couple of power outages within a few hours. After the second one, my ADSL modem stopped connecting with Telus' internet service. It would take them about 5 days to send someone to check it out. So, I set up an appointment, and go to work. Then I get to thinking, I've been wanting to switch to shaw for a while anyway. So the following evening, I call Shaw to set up installation. They were very helpful, and though I called them about 36 hours after I called Telus, they were able to make the appointment for only 24 hours after Telus could. So then I call Telus to cancel the appointment and try to cancel my service. Well, the guy (who hardly speaks English, and made me repeat myself about 5 times for everything I said so he knew what I was saying) tells me that he's cancelled the appointment, but that he can't cancel my service. I have to talk to "sales and retention" so he transfers me, but they're not open so I go back to him, though it takes him a while to realise this, and I'm sitting there listening to background mumbling for a good 2 minutes before he clues in that I'm on the line with him. He says that they're close 'till Monday morning (this was Friday evening) so I ask him to talk to a supervisor, he says they're all in meetings for the next three hours. After countless times on hold and him thanking me for "patiently waiting" every time he returned, he finally patched me through to customer service (instead of tech, which he was, since I wanted to cancel my tech appointment). Customer service tells me that sales and retention are open the following morning. This is somewhat acceptable (though I'm not sure what 24 hr service means if they can't access the entire system 24 hrs a day). Finally I call back the next morning, and I'm able to get them to cancel my service. (Like there was ANY chance I was going to change my mind after what I'd gone through the previous night.)

So yesterday, the guy from Shaw comes over. At no charge he finds a way to get a cable connection up to the computer room, checks the connection, but sees that it's quite weak. So he goes and gets a signal booster from his van, hooks it up, and now it's nice and strong. We go to the computer to check the bandwidth now. From Telus I was getting around 500Kbps down, and probably around 100Kbps up. Immediately I'm now getting 5000Kbps down (yes 10X what I had) and about 500Kbps up. Then he calls in to the office to activate the "eXtreme" connection (which I pay $10 more a month for), and within about 2 minutes my connection speed doubles. The link included (click on the title of this post) will take you to an image of the results of a test I did today, to make sure I'm still getting the same type of connection. The slight drop is caused by the fact that I now have it going through a router. Still, quite impressive for those who are tech savvy enough to know what any of this means.

Ok, so it's been a while...

2007-04-28T07:35:00.000-06:00

Ok, so I'm being attacked quite briskly for not keeping up to date with my blog. (Sorry, I guess.) I knew before I started this that I'd go through dry spells. Oh well. So if I have to write something, I figure I'll write a movie review for the most recent movie I went to, Perfect Stranger.

Be forewarned if you're thinking of seeing this that there are some disturbing images, though they're not really focused on much. The biggest thing for many people will be the pornographic images posted on a wall that they pan by with the camera at one point, and also a couple on the computer screen at another point. If you think you can handle this, and a lot of bad language, then I think this movie is sure worth a look. I tend to like a movie with twists in it, and this one takes plot twists to a whole new level. Remember the twist in the Sixth Sense, that's child's play in comparison to Perfect Stranger. I'll try to explain somewhat about the movie, without giving away the main twists.

So Halle Berry and Giovanni Ribisi are friends. Berry is a big time investigative journalist for a major newspaper who writes under a pen name to keep the heat off her while she's investigating. After being pulled off her latest expose for political ties between her target and the newspaper she works for, she runs into an old friend who appears to give her a tip about another story she could work on. A few days later the old friend turns up dead, and Halle puts on her investigative hat to find out about this tip she had given her, trying to see if she can find evidence that the target of this tip (Bruce Willis) was involved in this murder. Willis is a top executive for an advertising firm, and Halle gets a temp job near his office to get close to him. Things get pretty tense as the less-than-happily married Willis takes a bit of a liking to Halle, while she's trying to implicate him in her friend's murder.

SPOILER ALERT!
I'll try no to give away too much here, but as the investigation leads to charges and eventually a conviction, something just doesn't seem right. Far too many other more believable suspects have emerged, and soon it seems like literally anyone could've actually committed the murder.
Well, anyone except the one who actually did. I don't care how good you are at seeing twists coming before they're revealed, you'd never see this one. I can't bring myself to reveal it here though. Just watch it, you'll see.
END OF SPOILER!

Anyway, I thought the movie was very well done. Great acting!! (Duh! Berry, Willis and Ribisi!) And very entertaining! Again, just be forewarned of the crudeness in a couple of scenes, and the language throughout. But this one will keep you on the edge of your seats. (And try not to chew your fingernails down to their nubs!)

Ok, so I've finally updated my blog. Hopefully this will buy me another couple weeks before I'm goaded into updating this again. I'm really not trying to be a slacker, I just don't have a whole lot to say right now. At least not to the audience that reads this blog. ;)

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

2007-03-06T22:44:00.001-07:00

Your Birthdate: September 22

You tend to be understated and under appreciated.
You have a hidden force to do amazing things, doing them your own way.
People may see you as strange and shy, but they know little.
Your unconventional ways have more power than they (and even you) know.

Your strength: Standing up for what you know is true

Your weakness: You tend to be picky and rigid

Your power color: Silver

Your power symbol: Square

Your power month: April

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

An expensive trip...

2007-03-03T23:06:00.000-07:00

So I took a road trip to Calgary today to deliver a birthday gift to my dad, and also to do some shopping of my own. My main goal was to find myself a good leather coat. (I've looked all over Lethbridge and there's nothing.) I got a great deal on a winter coat at the Danier store in Chinook Centre. It was more than 50% off. It's a 3/4 length with a removable liner. It's probably not going to be cold enough this season for me to leave the liner in, so I've removed it and I'll start wearing it right away. (Since I'm not really in the mood to wear my Oilers coat anymore these days.) There was also another one I was considering there as well, and I almost decided to get both of them, but the other one didn't have a fully removable liner, and I figured I wouldn't wear it at all for at least 8 more months, so I settled for just the one I figured I'd get the most use out of.
I got such a good deal on the coat, I went and bought a nice $110 pair of shoes from FeetFirst. Then I spent more money on some shirts and socks from Old Navy, and a couple DVDs at HMV. What a day! (And what a drain on the wallet.)

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times... in THAT order!!!

2007-02-27T18:46:00.000-07:00

Ok, so today was NHL trade deadline. I, unfortunately, had to work most of the day. The deadline was to end at 1pm. I receive text message updates to my cell phone about any Oilers news, and I was anxiously awaiting such a message most of the morning. At about 1:30pm I took my lunch break, and realized that I hadn't heard anything yet, which would be just fine with me, except that there were a few players I'd be reasonably content with trading, so long as we got the better end of the trade. As I'm sitting there, enjoying my Chicken McNuggets (McDonalds is the devil), I feel a little vibration from my cargo pocket on my pants. I reach in, pull out my cell phone and see "Oilers updates" on the screen. I open the message and my jaw dropped as I read "Oilers trade Ryan Smyth to Islanders for Ryan O'Marra, Robert Nilsson, 2007 pick (1st Round)." I don't mean to sound like a whiner or a sourpuss, but that's pathetic! This is Smitty we're talking about! The man who by all accounts (other than his, of course) SHOULD be the Oilers' captain! I suppose I shouldn't be to surprised, I suppose. After all, this is the team that's famous for the "train 'em and trade 'em" philosophy. I guess I just thought that in this new era of the NHL, they might be able to hold on to some of their stars, rather than seeing Smyth follow the likes of Messier (who's being honoured by the team tonight by retiring his jersey), Gretzky, Weight, Guerin, and many, many more to other teams while in the prime of their respective careers. Needless to say, I'm NOT a big Kevin Lowe fan today. I just hope there's some stipulation that hasn't been made public that would make this more of a rental situation than a full on trade. I'd sure like to see Smitty back with the Blue and Copper before too long.

I feel sorta guilty, so I have to vent...

2007-02-23T21:49:00.000-07:00

So I feel like I should be a restaurant reviewer today. This evening I went to dinner with some friends at East Side Mario's.

I arrive in the place at about 7:45pm and join my friends' table in the middle of the dinning room. I sit down and the waitress promptly asks me for my drink order. I ask for a ginger ale and continue my conversation with my friends. The drink arrives shortly and we ask for a couple minutes before we order food. I notice that the waitress seems to only be working two or three other tables, so we should be good for service. Boy was I wrong! So after sitting around for about 20 minutes, long enough for me to completely forget what the waitress even looked like, I finally noticed a waitress walk up to our table (again, in the middle of the dinning room), ready to take our order. I was really in the mood for a steak, and I figured I had brought lunch to work today, so I figured I could splurge. It just so happens that the steak (they only have one) is the most expensive thing on the menu. I order it anyway. Now those of you who have been to East Side Mario's should know that they give out free bread while you wait. Well, after the orders were finally taken, we waited a good 20 minutes and no bread. Finally one of the guys at our table knew one of the guys working there, and called him over to chat. While he was at the table, I asked him if we could have some bread. He brought it over quickly. We munched on the bread for about another 20 minutes. (Let's do some quick math here: 20 minutes to order + 20 minutes to get bread + 20 minutes eating bread = 1 hour of wasted time.) Anyway, it occurs to me, through all of this, that the soup for my meal still hasn't arrived. The waitress finally starts to bring out the food, and I mention that I still hadn't gotten my soup. Without a word of apology, she mentions that she forgot, and that she'd bring it right out. So here I am with my steak dinner, with pasta on the side, AND a bowl of soup in front of me at the same time. All this, remember, after ordering the most expensive dish on the menu. Needless to say, I was NOT impressed. If only that was the end of the bad service. However, after a few bites I realize that my ginger ale has been empty for the best part of an hour. I look around and can't see a waitress anywhere. I wait a minute, and see her walk by to help one of her other tables, I see her look at my empty glass and walk right back by. Maybe she didn't see that it was empty, so I move it to the corner of the table to make it obvious. Again I see her walk right by and look at the glass, yet nothing. A few more minutes and she's off in the corner talking with some co-workers. I look intently at her with my glass in my hand and wait for her to glance over. Finally she looks over and walks over, after first walking into the kitchen for a few seconds. She forgot what my drink was (no surprise after an hour), and I had to tell her that I had ginger ale. I think she thought I was drinking water, and so I could just refill with the pitcher at the table. Anyway, as you might be able to tell, I was NOT the happiest customer today. She brought our bills, and mine came out to $22.66. Not I should note that I'm generally a very generous tipper. With good service I might even leave $30 at the table for that bill. At least $26 or $27. I left $23 even, only because I didn't want to wait another 20 minutes to have her come by so I could get change. I don't expect to have someone pay more attention to me just because I ordered the highest price entree they offer, but I do expect decent service for everyone, and perhaps a little more awareness of the service offered when one DOES order the highest priced entree.

Anyway, I generally like to leave decent tips, and I feel a little guilty about leaving a mere 34 cents, and so I had to vent.

Hockey talk...

2007-02-18T22:02:00.000-07:00

So, the Oilers are having a rough road trip so far. I'd sure like to see them turn this around, but they took a step in the wrong direction today, in my opinion. That is, unless they're just prepping for a better move. Here's the scoop...

They traded Marc-Andre Bergeron today to the NY Islanders for some prospective defenceman named Denis Grebeshkov, who's not expected to play at the NHL level at all this season. I mean, I'm as impressed with their calling up Zach Stortini as the next guy, but they've been struggling on defence all season. And I was just starting to warm up to Bergeron, after the grudge I had against him for being responsible for the injury to Roli in the finals that, in my opinion, as well as many others opinions, made the difference in allowing Carolina to take the cup. Anyway, I'm just hoping that the reason they've made this trade is to open up some salary cap room to do two things: re-sign Ryan Smyth, and acquire a bigger defenceman. What I really hope they haven't done is give up on the season and resigned themselves to
rebuilding for next season.

Another month...

2007-02-01T19:33:00.000-07:00

Alright, it's February, and I know you've all been rapt in anticipation of my next instalment so here it is.

I really don't have a whole lot of news, except that I tore a muscle in my shoulder at work the other day. I was lifting a desk into a car (when are people going to learn to bring a truck or van when shopping for furniture, or else let us deliver, since we do it for free) into which it refused to fit. This happened to be a rather heavy desk (it said it was a two man job on the box) but I'm a stud do I figured I'd do it myself. Anyway, it didn't fit, so I put it back on the dolly and wheeled it back into the store. On the way back in I noticed that my shoulder was hurting, but I figured I just strained the muscle a bit, and that I'd be fine. Within about five minutes I realized that the pain was only getting worse, and that I couldn't use my left arm at all. I filled out a WCB form, went home, iced it, went to the clinic, got told by the doctor that I tore a muscle, and now I have an excuse to be a wimp at work for a week or two. (I can't lift anything more than 10 lbs with my left arm. Doctor's orders!) I'll be fine, it just hurts a bit, and I might pick up some muscle relaxants if it continues to bug me.

Aside from that, the new Windows OS is out (Windows Vista). I get to play around with it at work, and as amazing as it is, with all the great new features and enhancements, I just like the new ink-ball game that's included. I'm such a dork!

In recovery mode...

2007-01-24T20:02:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I figure I should write on here again to update on the remainder of my vacation. So on Friday, I hit the highway and headed back up north to the remote tundra town of Grande Prairie. Ok, so maybe tundra is a bit of a stretch, but it sure is a long drive to the northwest. I think the most challenging part of the drive is the fact that the road was fairly wet, not snowy, but wet for the last hour. This caused quite a bit of my washer fluid to be used, as there was also a lot of traffic on this highway. It actually surprised me just how busy the highway was. Lots of trucks, especially. Anyway, when I finally got there (about 4.5 hrs later) I noticed that, especially on the side streets, they don't clear the roads very well in G.P. Instead, they just plow all the snow into the middle of the road, leaving about a 4 ft. tall barrier between lanes, and making it tough to find enough room to park safely on the side of the road while leaving enough room for cars to drive by. I survived though.

I got to spend the best part of a day in town, hanging out with my friend and his wife. We played some computer games, had a good chat, caught up on all the news from old friends, and generally had a good night staying up 'till 3am. We had a good venison roast for dinner, and then had some nachos for a midnight snack, and then in the morning he fed me so many pancakes, I thought I was going to turn into Aunt Jemima. Anyway, I got back on the road around 1pm and started the trek back to Edmonton.

Upon arriving in E-town, I caught up with my roommate who was up for a couple days on business, and we went to the Oilers vs. Flames game. The game didn't go so well. Kipper was on his game, and the Oilers, namely the defence, were having a bad night. Flames won 4-0, and that's all we'll say about the actual game. After the game, however, is a different story. We went down under the stadium seats, into the lower concourse, where the Oilers broadcast control room is. It's also right outside the Oilers locker room. After HNIC (Hockey Night In Canada) they have an interview segment called After Hours. When the late game is in Edmonton, they broadcast that segment from that control room. We stood just beside the big glass wall that divides the room from the rest of the concourse. We had a front row view. The hosts, Kelly Hrudey and Scott Oake, had on the Oilers' star forward Ryan Smyth. It was so cool to be that close to three people I've watched for years on tv. At one point, during a break, Kelly Hrudey (who was once an NHL goalie, and a pretty good one at that) looked out at us, and as he looked at me, I pointed to my HNIC T-shirt, which are apparently quite rare, and was a gift from my sister for Christmas '05, and he responded with a thumbs up while saying, "Hey, I like it!" So now I have this incredible claim to fame. While I may no longer be the biggest Oilers fan to never have been to a game, I can now say that Kelly Hrudey liked my T-shirt!!! (Hey, I'll take what I can get.)

Anyway, after heading back to Sis' place for the night, she showed me the taped footage of After Hours, and on four separate occasions you can clearly see me as they panned a camera across the crowd watching them shoot the segment. So, for a grand total of about 15 seconds, I got one sixtieth of my fifteen minutes. (And I'm going to hold out for my remaining 14:45!!!)

Finally, Sunday I drive myself and my roommate back to Lethbridge. This was a bit of an adventure in itself. We left Edmonton with almost a full tank of gas. We drove straight past Red Deer, then Calgary. As we worked our way out of Calgary, I noticed the gas tank was almost empty. I figured I'd have enough to at least get to Nanton. Well, we pull into the station at the south end of Nanton, where the price was 5 cents less than at the north end of Nanton. (And if you've ever been through Nanton, you'll know it only a few blocks away.) As a result, there was a substantial wait to get into the pumps, and it being a full-service station, the cars tend to take even longer to get through the pumps. I decide we'll have enough gas to go the added 40 kms or so to Claresholm. Well, I was right, but barely. As we came up a gradual slope, about 4 km north of Claresholm, the car started to stutter a bit. I eased off the gas a bit, though I was already going below the speed limit to conserve gas, and that seemed to help a bit. As we came over the crest of the slope, the car still stuttering a bit, the few drops of gas that were left in the tank moved back to the front of the tank, and we got our power back, at least temporarily. At this point, with about 3 km to go, we hit a gradual downhill slope. I put the car in neutral on more than one occasion to coast as far as I could. As we rolled into town, I didn't touch the brake to slow down to 50 km/h, but rather just slowly coasted down to speed. Again, if you've driven in to Claresholm from the north, you'll know how easy this is through the long 70 km/h zone before finally getting to the 50 zone. Anyway, the only light in town was green, so I cruised right on through, and right up to the 7-11/Petro-Canada station. I think if I had to go just a couple kms further, I wouldn't have made it. Anyway, a quick fill and off we went.

Overall, it was a good trip. One bad hockey game, but at least the sting was reduced by the whole After Hours incident. The roads were pretty well all clear, maybe a bit wet at the worst, at least on the highways. It's really not that bad of a drive, especially for someone who enjoys being behind the wheel, like myself. I think I may have to do this trip again sometime, though I'll have to plan for a longer stay in G.P. as that was the only thing I would want to change about it, at least that I can control (stupid Flames).

Let's Go Oilers!!! (Pronger Sucks!!!)

2007-01-18T22:41:00.000-07:00

Ok, I know Pronger didn't play tonight, but that was still the chant that began during the third period.

What an AWESOME game!!! Aside from a shaky start, the Oilers totally dominated the Ducks. This was a great first game for me. (I still can't believe I've been an Oilers fan for well over 20 yrs and this is the first time I've seen them play live.) Anyway, it was so cool to actually be there and see some of the players I've been cheering on up close. This being only the second NHL game I've ever been to (the last one was almost 12 years ago, and we were way up in the nosebleeds), it was impressive just to see how fast and skilled they are, compared to their WHL counterparts. It really was something to behold. Now I just hope Hemsky will be back in the line-up for Saturday's game vs. Calgary. I'd really like to see him turn on his jets and show some of the magic he brings to every game.

Anyway, for those not aware, the Oilers won 4-1. It was great. Smyth had 2 goals. The first of which was in classic Smyth fashion. I was just waiting for him to put a third one in, as I would've been willing to part with my hat (especially since I had just bought a new one before the game, which would've been a good replacement).

Well, that's my report for now. Feel free, as always, to comment.

Spontaneity can be fun...

2007-01-16T02:38:00.000-07:00

Monday afternoon, I'm trying to come up with a idea for what a good activity would be to do with a friend of mine who recently moved back to town. I'm thinking we'll probably just end up going to a movie or something. Then she calls me and asks me if I'd want to go to a concert in Calgary. It was very last minute (we had to leave in less than an hour), but it sounded like fun, so I agreed. We ended up getting 4 of us piled into her car and we drove to Calgary to see Evanescence. The timing of this was actually really good. While I'd known of the band, and a few of their songs, it wasn't until last week, when band leader Amy Lee appeared on The Hour (great show on CBC, George knows how to speak to our generation) that I really gained a deep respect for her talents and her music.

Anyway, we get to the concert, and not only did we have tickets, but they were for floor level. I guess the only downside is that we didn't have seats, but we didn't need them anyway as we were happy to stand just a few feet from the stage. I have to say that this was an incredible concert. I may not be an expert on concerts, but I've been to a few different ones. While there have been bands that I liked better, I don't think I've seen/heard many better performances. I don't know if anyone reading this is even familiar with Evanescence, but if you are you should know that she (Amy Lee) really doesn't rely on the studio to give her good quality vocals. This girls is simply an amazing singer. (And not a bad pianist either; turns out she's classically trained on piano.)

One other thing that we found was that she was perhaps more "normal" than most of her fans. Aside from perhaps a tiny bit of dark makeup around her eyes, and a strange skirt thing, she had a great appearance and was very modestly dressed for a "rock chick". Also, I didn't hear a single bad word from the stage with the one exception of when she almost tripped over some cords while walking backwards, and later commented how she almost fell on her a**. But that's pretty mild for a rock show.

Her audience, however, was a completely different story. Apparently the band appeals to the Gothic crowd, and so there were white faces with black lips and eyes, and lots of ripped stockings and leather and chains and the like. Strange hair also seemed the order of the day. It seems the goal here is to spike as much hair as you can, and then shave the rest. But this is all ok, as it wasn't the audience I went to see.

All in all, the concert was a great show, and much better than just going to a movie. Ah, what a fun adventure.

Time off is a glorious thing... And there's something else, too...

2007-01-13T12:59:00.000-07:00

So after the craziness of the past few weeks, especially at work, I'm excited to be taking a week off for myself this coming week. I'm going to be taking quite a road trip the last half of the week, including attending 2 Edmonton Oilers games. Not to exaggerate anything, but this is going to be a life-changing, monumental experience. I've always touted myself as "the biggest Oilers fan to have never seen them play in person." This is a claim I will no longer be able to make. Though it's a small price to pay for the chance to finally see them live. My wonderful sister bought me one of the tickets as a Christmas gift. I can't tell you how great this is going to be. I'm also going to spend a day up in Grande Prairie, visiting my friend up there. I've only been there once before, and it was the middle of the summer then. I'm a little unsure how I feel about going that far north in the middle of winter, but they tell me it's supposed to be fairly mild this week. The highways should be clear, anyway.

This should be a great, and much needed, break from the daily grind. I even just love the feeling of knowing that I don't have to go to work on Monday, and yet I'll still get paid as if I were. It's a great feeling.

But with all this, there's something else that makes this a great time. I'm currently sitting on my couch watching Hockey Day in Canada!!! This is one of the best days of the year. Hockey all day long. Ottawa is currently beating up on Montreal something fierce. In a couple hours Toronto will play host to the Vancouver Canucks, and then we'll see the Oilers slide into Calgary to extinguish the Flames. If I remember I'll update this post later on with a bit of commentary. (I was told by my uncle, after emailing a review of his son's basketball game, that I should consider a career in sportswriting, so let's see how this goes.)

Montreal at Ottawa

Ottawa came out firing on all cylinders to score early and often in this bout. By the end of the first period it was 4-0 for the Senators. As the Canadiens took to the ice for the second period, I was surprised to see Huet return between the pipes after his disastrous showing in the opening inning. It wouldn't be long, however, until he took his spot on the bench due to two more quick goals, giving the Sens a 6-0 lead. So as the Habs make a goaltending change, they also find an offensive spark, as they come back with two quick goals of their own. All this, and it's only halfway through the game. The remainder if the period has some good hitting and a few good saves, but no more scoring until the final minute when the Sens score twice again, including a really strange bounce, to take a 8-2 lead into the second intermission. The third starts with Montreal coming out hard, but Emery seemed up to the task in net for the Sens. Finally, about halfway into the final period he lets one by again. Of course this was far too little, far too late, for the Habs as they go on to lose the game by a margin of 8-3.

Vancouver at Toronto

I actually didn't watch much of this game. I went out grocery shopping and running errands. But it ended up another one-sided game, due to a big third period by then 'Nucks. Even at 1's after one, Vancouver scored a go-ahead in the second, and then they followed it up with 4 in the third for a 6-1 toppling over the host TML's.

Edmonton at Calgary

Good fast pace to start off the first, with the puck going up and down the ice, and a few good chances at both ends. The first 10 minutes went by very quickly with just a couple whistles. And while there were a few more whistles to round off the opening act, none of them where due to goals. (I was disappointed in the non-call on the high-sticking with about a minute to go, though I understand how the ref could've missed seeing the stick, as it looked like he was hit with the puck.) As the second period begins, we see the first penalty of the game against Edmonton, but the excellent PK of the Oilers are easily able to kill that one off. A few minutes later, as the Flames get caught for high-sticking (and Phaneuf gets away with a cheap shot after the whistle), Horcoff nets one for the guest Oilers to put the first goal on the scoreboard. Just a few minutes later Calgary was able to answer back on a power play of their own to tie things up, and that's the was the second period ended. A little over halfway through the third, the ref made a very questionable call giving Sykora a holding penalty. The Flames were able to score on the ensuing power play. Another Calgary goal, this time on the transition, gives the Flames a two goal lead to finish the game at 3-1. While I'm sure I'm biased, I have to say that I think the officiating was quite skewed in Calgary's favour. Very disappointing indeed.

Wow! What a crazy day...

2007-01-07T22:42:00.000-07:00

Ok, I don't want to sound preachy or anything, but you know how you hear those stories about a Church pageant that was held out doors, and the rain stops for the duration of the show, and then once they finish it begins to pour again? Well have I got a story for you. But first, let take things in order...

So I get up this morning, get ready to go to church, and head out. I was fairly well prepared to teach my class, but my voice wasn't. This crazy infection his practically made a mute out of me. Anyway, time for class comes around, and I make it through the lesson. My voice was crackly the whole time, but I somehow made it through. It was actually one of the best lessons I've taught in a while. I think it almost helps to talk so quietly, as everyone really has to pay attention in order to hear me. I may have to just speak more quietly whenever I teach. Anyway, the class went well, and I got quite a few compliments afterwards. (I find that when the classes go better, people I don't know well will compliment, but when they're sub-par, my friends compliment.) Anyway, it went well, and then after church, we all ate together. Mmmm... BBQ burgers!!! Then I thought I'd go home and rest my voice so that perhaps I might be able to sing this evening. Plans changed as I got invited over to someone's house for dessert and games. This probably wasn't the best thing for me to do. Oh well.

The time for singing was hastily approaching, and I had no voice. I tried the warm salt-water gargle, and it helped a bit. Anyway, I went to the church to practice with the others before the performance. I pushed my voice through one complete run-through. It was quite shaky, and I cut out a couple of times. (Time for a silent prayer, and a Fisherman's Friend.) Anyway, I tried to save my voice as much as possible until it was time to sing. Little did I know, we were second last in the program, and I had long since dissolved my last lozenge. The time came, I joined the others in the group on the stand, and we sang. I sang. The notes just came out, and in key even. So then, I go to sit down and listen to the final number. There was then a closing congregational hymn. Halfway through said hymn my voice fell apart again.

Again, I don't mean this to sound overly preachy, but I know that I was blessed with temporary relief from my voice problems to sing this song. It was literally about 5 minutes after I sat down that my voice died again. While this wasn't walking on water, or any great vision or something, this was still a bona fide miracle, at least to me. And people say that the days of miracles are over. I beg to differ.

And so it begins...

2007-01-06T14:49:00.000-07:00

Well, it's 2007, and time to set out on some new ventures and create new habits. I'm hoping this will be one of them. I'm not exactly sure what topics I might discuss here, though I'm sure I'll touch on Sports (namely NHL and the Edmonton Oilers), Technology (what else would you expect from a guy with a degree in Computer Science), Music (possibly my biggest passion in life), and Spirituality (ok, so maybe music is second). Also, I'm sure I'll probably talk about some of the more interesting experiences I have, and the people I come in contact with, as a result of my employment at a major retailer. I might even delve into my personal life a little bit, such as how I missed 2 days of work this week, due to this sinus infection that has basically made a mute out of me, when I'm supposed to teach a class in church tomorrow and sing in the evening. I sure hope this penicillin does its trick soon.
Anyway, that's the plan for now. Feel free to comment to your heart's content.

BB (And yes, I am the King. Deal with it.)