Observations Archives (38 posts)
The ultimate guide to Moleskine notebooks
I prefer the 192 page Plain Notebook with blank pages so that I can make sketches, to-do lists and take notes at meetings. If you don’t have a Moleskine notebook then you’re missing out on a good thing.
Moleskine photo © 2007 The European Paper Company. All rights reserved.
Posted in Observations at 9:51 PM | Comments (0)
Coffee protects your brain
According to a BBC News story, your morning cup of coffee might be your best defense against dementia:
Coffee may cut the risk of dementia by blocking the damage cholesterol can inflict on the body, research suggests.
So if you’re over 40, have high cholesterol and an expanding waistline you’re at greater risk of developing Alzheimer’s. I’m going to grab a coffee.
Posted in News and Observations at 10:25 AM | Comments (0)
The Subaru Legacy GT Money Pit
My wife’s Subaru or should I say $ubaru needs a new exhaust system. Nothing about Subaru repairs are cheap. Our punishment this time will be $1,300.00.
My Mustang GT needs a pair of new Flowmasters that will be much, much cheaper and sound way better than the piece of crap Subaru muffler that I have to purchase.
Subaru has definitely lost me as a customer. Some people swear by them, I swear at them.
Posted in Observations at 7:19 PM | Comments (2)
I just bought a car
A few years ago my wife and I bought a 2000 Subaru Legacy GT. It’s been a great car until last month. It kept over-heating so we replaced the radiator, the thermostat, and various hoses. $1,000 later we thought we were in the clear.
The car ran smoothly for about a week and then it over-heated again. We took it back to the mechanic that made the repairs. He kept the vehicle for a week and ran a lot of tests (usually a bad sign that you’re going to get a really large bill in the future).
After a gazillion pressure tests the mechanic determined that the head gasket needed to be replaced. Cost: $2,000. Groan. Most people start looking for a new car when they received that kind of news but where can you get a decent car for $2,000 these days? And we just spent $1,000 on this dying Legacy. We caved and okayed the repairs.
The mecahnic also found a cracked timing belt, damaged water pump and another $700 in repairs that we didn’t count on. After hearing this news my stomach began to ache and I quickly developed a headache.
So in the month of February we spent around $4,000 on fixing our Subaru Legacy GT which to me, is like buying a new car. The kicker is that there still a lot of little things wrong with the car.
Most of the dashboard lights are out so we never know how much gas is in the tank or how fast we’re driving. The RPM gauge is lit up which is really helpful when you’re driving a vehicle with automatic transmisison. The engine light works and stays lit whenever you start the car — something about a vapour sensor that we can ignore. There are also 3 other LED lights that are burned out (heated seat indicator, side mirror defrost, side window defrost).
I used to think that Subaru made decent vehicles. Now I think that their vehicles are crap. I’ll never purchase another.
I’ve done fewer repairs to my 20-year-old Mustang GT Cobra (which is hard to believe) and it runs perfectly. After 20 years the dashboard lights always turn on and all of the LED indicators work perfectly. The original radiator lasted 15 years and I’ve only had to do minor repairs to the vehicle — headlight switch, power window switch, belts, etc.
I should have dumped the Subaru Legacy GT and put the $4,000 into my Mustang for some new performance parts.
In the next few years we’ll have to replace the Subaru and I’d love to hear what people recommend as their favourite vehicle.
Posted in Observations at 4:33 PM | Comments (5)
Wicked awesome band names
My 8-year old son was listening to some music with his friend yesterday. They were brainstorming, trying to come up with some cool-sounding band names. Why? Because one day they are going to be in a rock band and they want to be ready.
Here are some of the wicked awesome band names they chose:
- Five Minuts Past Midnight
- The Chosen One
- Always Colour With Red
- The Bad Lands!
- Don’t Get Caut
- Get this!
- Explotion with BLOOD
- You Know Who I’m Run Like Heck!
I left the spelling mistakes in there. They might have been intentional if he wasn’t in grade 3. I find them amusing.
Before you recommend a child psychologist my son hasn’t been watching Rambo movies, yet. I suspect some of the names have been inspired by old AC/DC — Got Blood If You Want It.
Posted in Observations at 7:58 PM | Comments (1)
After the storm
We had a lot of snow last night in Toronto which tends to make everything look nice and clean for a few days. Soon the dirt and salt will make everything look grey again. Soon you’ll be able to see the pile of gravel in front of our house that didn’t make it into the garage. Soon our renovation will be complete but in the meantime, I’m loving the new house.
Posted in Observations and Photography at 9:12 PM | Comments (0)
Tom Cruise is cracked
I just watched The Cruise Indoctrination Video Scientology Tried To Suppress on Gawker. I can’t decide if I feel sorry for this little man or jealous that somebody so rich and powerful can seem so crazy.
If you watch the video you’ll wonder what Tom is blathering on about? Nick Denton sums it up best when he says, “if Tom Cruise jumping on Oprah’s couch was an 8 on the scale of scary, this is a 10.”
If Scientology is so great and makes such a difference in the world then why is it so secretive? Why would Scientology remove this video from so many websites and prevent people from seeing it (other than the fact that it makes Tom look nuts)?
I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Scientology is a cult as many have suggested. Weird stuff.
UPDATE: Derober has an abridged version of the Cruise video called Scientology Defined. Subtitles explain some of the terms and concepts that Cruise refers to.
The Un-Funny TRUTH about Scientology is another video making the rounds that looks at the slimy side of the church.
Posted in Observations at 4:17 PM | Comments (1)
Declutter your desk
If you love USB gadgets (like my father) then your desk is probably full of power cables, routers, card readers and lots of cable. Van Mardian has a simple and useful site called Declutter your desk. For $33.42 (CDN) he’ll show you how to hide your desktop clutter. Brilliant.
Posted in Observations at 10:36 AM | Comments (0)
5 reasons why I love my Timex Ironman watch
When I was 18 I bought a Timex Ironman watch that worked for over 6 years. Since then I’ve had a number of wristwatches that never seemed to last for more than 2 years — Alfred Sung, Seiko, Fossil, Swatch and others. All of these watches were in the $100 - $200.
It may not be the most glamorous watch in the world but I love my Ironman for 5 reasons:
- it’s proven to actually work for more that 2 years
- water resistant to 100 metres
- Indiglo
- costs less than $100
- includes a stopwatch, alarm, timer and has dual timezones
I found a review that has a good tip for the dual time zone feature. Keep the time the same for the second time zone but switch to a 24-hour clock view. When you press the START button to view the second time zone you’ll get the 24-hour clock.
If you’re tired of designer wrist watches that only seem to last for two years then I suggest you try an Ironman for a change.
Posted in Observations and Technology at 6:29 PM | Comments (0)
Trying not to panic
I’m sitting in West Vancouver, working on my wife’s laptop computer. I should be enjoying my Christmas vacation but I’m a little panicked. I’ve had 3 hours of sleep in the last 48 hours and I have to finish designing a web page for Disney, create 53 French language coupons for Procter & Gamble and update a few other sites.
Instead of actually working I’m waiting for a 796 MB trial version of Photoshop CS3 to download. The version of Photoshop CS2 that I hoped to use doesn’t want to activate on this tired iBook G4. Silly me, I didn’t bring the installer discs and serial numbers to reinstall Photoshop. Trying. To. Remain. Calm.
452 MB remaining.
Lately I’ve been in a frenzied rush to finish one job after the other and I’m running out of energy. The endless stream of rush jobs and constant panics has to end. I think they call this type of decision-making a new year’s resolution.
326 MB remaining.
Did I mention that it is December 19th and I haven’t started my Christmas shopping yet? You know that time of year where you exchange money in the form of gift certificates because you can’t figure out what to purchase for people.
My excuse is that I’m a guy and I hate shopping. What do I really need for Christmas? Nothing. Okay maybe Photoshop CS2 running on this damn computer would be nice.
If I need something I’ll go to the store and purchase it. Christmas is for children. I’m not saying that adults shouldn’t exchange a small gifts at all but there is always this unnecessary pressure to buy something and spend a certain amount of money.
175 MB remaining.
I know a few people that decided they weren’t going to give in to Christmas consumer pressure. Their families don’t buy any gifts (for the adults). Instead, they donate it to a hospital or a charity. I would rather contribute to a cure for cancer than a gift that somebody won’t like and doesn’t really need.
Now I feel like a cross between Scrooge and Andy Rooney from 60 Minutes.
126 MB remaining.
I can barely keep my eyes open now. It’s 3 AM, Toronto time. Need sleep.
40 MB remaining.
Zzzzzz.
Posted in Observations and Personal at 2:16 AM | Comments (3)
He’s probably at the beer store
I was a few minutes late in picking up my son Daniel from school last week. He was getting some tutoring from his grade 3 teacher after school. She’s a fabulous teacher, works the kids hard and has been very generous in terms of giving up her time to tutor kids.
When I arrived at the front of the school she seemed very quiet. I apologized for being a little late and explained that I was on a business call. She seemed a little embarrassed about something and said that Daniel would explain. As she hurried off I asked Daniel what was wrong.
He said, “oh, nothing’s wrong. I told my teacher that you were probably at the beer store again, and that’s why you were late. I told her that every day you make a list and go to the beer store to get more beer.”
I was shocked, embarrassed, then angry. I asked him why he would tell such a lie? I love beer but I don’t drink a lot of it let alone make a list every day and visit the beer store. He thought it would be funny to make up an answer like he did.
After a few minutes I started to laugh. His teacher is pretty conservative when it comes to things like alcohol and she must think I’m a complete alcoholic. Anything I say to her will make it seem like I’m trying to cover up a drinking problem. Kids!
I made sure that I was on time when I picked up Daniel the following day. Before she could say anything I said, “sorry for being late, there was a long line at the beer store.” She looked surprised then started to laugh. I can only imagine what other stories Daniel has told his teacher about me.
Posted in Observations at 11:39 PM | Comments (6)
Compact fluorescent light bulbs suck
I turn off my lights when I’m not using them. I turn my computer off instead of putting it too sleep. I turn off my power bars if I’m not going to be using them for a while. I try to be green, to a point.
I hate the compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) also known as the compact fluorescent light bulb. Yeah, I know it’s supposed to replace our old incandescent light bulbs but the light they emit is cold, sterile, ugly. Give me a halogen light any day. I don’t care how much energy they use, or waste.
The colour temperature in most CFLs is pretty lousy in my opinion. Until Philips or GE can make a CFL that produces a warm light that is comparable to incandescent lamps then I’m holding out. I don’t care if I can reduce greenhouse gases, I’m not switching.Compact fluorescent light bulbs suck.
If the province of Ontario follows through on their plan to ban the sale of incandescent light bulbs by 2012, well, I’ll just stock up on them like my friend Bill once did when Canadian Tire had a sale. I’ll purchase enough light bulbs until I go blind or die.
I’ll continue to recycle, conserve water by using rain barrels, upgrade my furnace, drive a small car, take public transit, use a push mower, but give up my halogen lights. Never.
Now I know how Charlton Heston feels about his guns.
Posted in Observations at 11:50 PM | Comments (9)
Far away, so close
I took this photo a couple of weeks ago of our house reno. Work has been insanely busy and I haven’t had a chance to post anything until now.
Posted in Observations at 5:05 PM | Comments (1)
Country Style Can’t
I went to a Country Style drive thru the other morning and ordered a medium regular coffee with a toasted sesame seed bagel (with cream cheese). I wanted to go to Tim Horton’s but thought, I’ll support the little guy instead.
My medium coffee looked a little large and my bagel was wrapped and warm so I paid and drove off. It seemed a little expensive but it was too early to argue or think for that matter.
My large coffee didn’t have any sugar in it. None! I ordered a medium regular and received a large coffee with cream. Duoh!
My bagel was toasted and it had sesame seeds but instead of regular cream cheese it had melted cheddar and microwaved egg! I’ve never tasted anything so bland. They didn’t even butter the bagel. Duoh!
Country Style can’t get a simple drive thru order right which is why they will be out of business in the next couple of years. The last time I tried the drive thru at this location (Kingston Road and Midland) they served me a warm, not hot medium regular coffee.
I’m done. Country Style Crap won’t be seeing Bombippy again. I’ll stick with Tim Horton’s or Starbucks.
Posted in Observations at 10:25 PM | Comments (4)
Sightings
Today’s high temperature in Toronto is 91 F. With the humidity it feels closer to 95 F. So why do you suppose I saw a woman at Danforth and Main Street wearing ear muffs?
I saw another woman riding a pink bicycle with a scarf, goggles, toque and a jacket. Did I mention the guy I saw wearing a winter hat and a winter jacket?
There must be a radio contest I didn’t hear about or just maybe, all three of these people are completely whacked. I wish I had my camera to take a photo of the woman on the bike. Classic!
Posted in Observations at 1:17 PM | Comments (0)
Green Incentives and Rebates
As our home renovation continues, I’m finding out that there are a few rebates and incentives I can take advantage of. It’s nice to get something back from the government instead of higher taxes and parking tickets. Read on!
Residential Toilet Replacement Program
The City offers Toronto residents a $60 or $75 cash incentive to replace a water-guzzling toilet with a City-selected water-efficient model. More info.
Retail Sales Tax Rebate on Solar Energy Systems
Owners of residential premises, including multi-residential buildings, can claim a refund of the 8% Retail Sales Tax (provincial sales tax) paid on new solar energy systems and on any expansions or upgrades to existing systems installed in their premises. More info.
Summer Savings 10/10
This program will offer residential consumers an incentive to reduce power use. Cutting use by 10 per cent during a set period will give consumers an additional 10 per cent rebate on their electricity bills. More info.
TAPS program
Homeowners living in Toronto who use natural gas heating can obtain free delivery and installation of up to two low-flow showerheads, aerators for kitchen and bathroom taps, water pipe insulation material and four compact fluorescent light bulbs. More info.
More Rebates
For even more energy related rebates in the remote areas of the province of Ontario (Whitby, Newmarket, Cambridge, Burlington and Maple), consult the Environment Canada website for a list of incentives and rebates. If your name is Dave, then just ignore this entire entry. Then again if your name is Dave and you live in Whitby you probably went to another website as soon as you read Green Incentives and Rebates.
Posted in Observations at 9:35 AM | Comments (4)
Smoking sections
Having a smoking section in a restaurant is like having a peeing section in a pool.
Posted in Observations at 4:43 PM | Comments (4)
How long do birds live?
And now for something completely random.
I was reading a story about the population explosion of Canada Geese. They’ve nearly doubled since 1992. Geese don’t have many predators in urban areas and can live for up to 24 years.
To combat the population explosion of Canada Geese in the Detroit area, people are suggesting that they be allowed to hunt the birds and send them to soup kitchens and shelters. The only problem is that the meat is quite greasy, more so than duck. I’d be shocked if the grease was worse than what you’d get from a double cheeseburger at McDonalds.
So how long do you think a small bird like a Robin or a Sparrow lives? The average is only 2 years! Only about 25 per cent make it past the first year.
Okay enough with the useless Cliff Claven trivia. I was curious and now you have some impressive information for your 7-year-old.
Posted in Observations at 2:19 PM | Comments (1)
Musings from a 7-year-old
My father is 67 years old. My 7-year-old son Daniel mentioned this to me recently. Since then I’ve discovered that Daniel has an interesting opinion of senior citizens.
A couple of days ago my father was driving Daniel to our house when he turned off the highway at the wrong exit. Realizing his mistake, my father said to Daniel, “your grandfather is stupid—I took the wrong exit.”
Without missing a beat Daniel replied, “granddad, you’re not stupid, you’re just old.”
Posted in Observations at 12:09 PM | Comments (0)
Global Warming, Michael Crichton and the small penis rule
The denial of global warming seems to have struck a chord with a few readers and led to some interesting discussion. With the unusually warm weather, I’ve noticed a lot of recent stories on Digg about climate change.
- CBC documentary on Global Warming Deniers: The Denial Machine
- Climate Change Melts Kilimanjaro’s Snows
- NO SNOW IN THE ALPS Skiers Wondering When Winter Will Come
Poor Michael Crichton. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of love or respect for his book, State of Fear. Not only that, his publisher really seems to dislike him.
In his latest book, Crichton takes things a little too far with ‘the small penis rule’ by defaming Michael Crowley. What the heck am I talking about you ask? Take a look at this Cock and Bull article at The NewRepublic Online.
I have a strange feeling that some of you will really digg this story and never read another Michael Crichton novel again.
Posted in News and Observations at 1:10 AM | Comments (5)
You are a regular when…
You know you are a regular customer when, the woman in the coffee shop sees you coming from across the street, makes your medium regular coffee and has it ready when you walk up to the counter. Now that, is service.
Posted in Observations at 10:53 AM | Comments (1)
Overheard at Starbucks
An older man and woman (probably in their 50s) were talking about a friend of theirs that just passed away. He was only 55.
She said to her friend, “55 was too young to die but he had a good life. It’s not the destination that matters but the journey along the way.”
Huh? I guess that is how some people deal with death—ignore it. Don’t live your life thinking that there is a destination, make the best of what you have right now. Enjoy life and live it to the fullest. Forget about what happens to you after you die. Don’t waste your time worrying or trying to figure that one out.
If that is what I believed then I would probably have about 20 wives. I would lie, cheat, and figure out the best way to make billions of dollars so that I could do whatever I want.
My name would probably be Conrad Black or Ken Lay. Maybe I would be a fat cabinet minister enjoying fine wine and steak dinners at the expense of the taxpayer.
Am I missing something?
Posted in Observations at 3:35 PM | Comments (10)
Hair
Last night I went to see the musical Hair, with the lovely. She made asked me to go.
Dancing. Singing. Dancing. Singing…
I looked at my ticket and noticed that the dancing and singing cost $92.50 (per ticket). That’s a lot of DVD rentals, movie passes, a Leaf game in the nose bleed seats or a season’s pass to the Toronto Argonauts.
Dancing. Singing. Dancing. Singing…
She had a great time.
Posted in Observations at 8:19 PM | Comments (1)
Oklahoma Full Auto Shoot
I don’t know. I watched this video from Cousinos Firearms and it demonstrates how messed up some people are in the US. Is it just me or does anyone find it disturbing to watch Bubba helping a 6-year-old girl fire a machine gun? Link viea MetaFilter.
Posted in Observations at 11:17 AM | Comments (5)
10 ways to please us, the customers
David Pogue of the NY Times has an article that caught my eye recently called 10 ways to please us, the customers. It’s a list of 10 things where companies fail miserably in terms of customer service and how they can improve.
My favourtie was number 7.
VII. Thou shalt remember the customer’s phone number. This means you, computer and cellphone companies. We call for help; we’re asked to type in our 10-digit phone numbers or 20-digit customer numbers; then when an agent picks up, we’re asked for that number again.
What - did you think we actually moved and changed our identities since placing the call?
If they can write software that sends a man to the moon, they can surely write call-center software that passes on to the agent the information we’ve already typed in.
It always amazes me when I phone Bell Canada for something and enter their automated phone system hell. You key in your 10-digit phone number, enter a several menus before you get a “live operator” that… asks you what your phone number is.
Did Microsoft write the software that these phone companies are using? Here’s a classic example of how Windows does exactly the same thing when it comes to frustrating the user.
Posted in Observations at 11:25 AM | Comments (0)
The Big Smoke
This was the view of the Toronto skyline around 2 PM today. It is so hot and humid that I actually found it difficult to breathe. I love Toronto but I can’t stand this heat wave.
Posted in Observations at 6:59 PM | Comments (2)
Real Classy
I just walked up the street to get a coffee at the Dip N’ Sip coffe shop. Not a classy joint but it’s open 24/7 and it gets me through the late nights of work.
On my way back to the office I noticed a cab in front of my building with the backdoor open. Inside was a blonde, all dolled up, laying down in the backseat, face down, puking onto Kingston Road. She must have seen my feet because she tried to look up and called out, “Paul… Paul?” Amused, I walked away before she could see who was looking down at her.
I hope she was drunk and not deathly ill because I found the whole thing kind of funny. I can sort of relate to her situation. There may have been a time or two in my past where I was in the backseat of a car, wanting to toss my cookies. Yeah, I know, it’s difficult to imagine.
Posted in Observations at 11:25 PM | Comments (0)
Distress Phone
The next time I’m having a stressful day, a problem or even a crisis I’ll just head down to Ashbridges Bay and talk to the friendly people on the Distress Phone. It looks like it might be free too! Bonus!
I took this photo during lunch (I have to say that so the wife thinks I’m not gallavanting around the city taking pictures instead of working) while walking around Ashbridges Bay. I’ll post more a little later on Bombippy Photos.
Posted in Observations at 3:40 PM | Comments (0)
Fashion Trends
Lately I’ve noticed some fashion trends that are, disturbing.
Last week, I actually saw a man with a mullett hair-cut walking along Kingston Road in Scarborough. Didn’t this go out of style with Billy Ray Cyrus? I am no officially embarassed to be living in Scarborough.
Last summer I blogged about women who shouldn’t be wearing tiny t-shirts. Like dandelions in Toronto, this fashion trend seems to be getting out of hand.
I’m happy for all of you ladies that are proud of your bodies but do we really need to see you wearing your daughter’s t-shirts? Do we really need to see your Molson muscle (gut) hanging out of your shorts? Don’t get me wrong. A lot of women can pull of this look but far too many should be putting on another layer before they leave the house. Either that or hit the treadmill for a couple of weeks.
The other fashion trend that has been getting on my nerves lately is the baseball cap with the sunglasses on top. It’s almost like a uniform for some guys. You never see them wearing the sunglasses, they just sit on top of their caps.
I know I’m going to receive some negative feedback for the tiny t-shirt comments. Bring it on! What fashion trends get on your nerves?
Posted in Observations at 1:30 PM | Comments (4)
The season is over
My winter hockey league is done. Our team went to the semi-finals last night, tied 5-5, played a period of over-time, then lost in a shoot-out. I played 4 games this weekend and I’m wiped. It didn’t help that I pulled an all-nighter on Thursday but that’s another story.
One of the guys on the team was almost in tears after the game. Another guy said he wasn’t sure if he’d play next year—too much pressure during the playoffs. Me, I had fun. We lost. Whatever. Summer hockey starts this Wednesday night.
The best part about last night, was when I told one of the guys on my team, how old I was. He’s 23 and thought that I was 26 years-old, maybe 27. When I told him that I was 36, going on 37 he was shocked.
When you’re 36, and people think you’re 26, losing a hockey game just doesn’t seem like a big deal.
Posted in Observations at 12:28 PM | Comments (3)
Fearful Fiberals
I got wind of a story that is creating quite a buzz online—Canada’s Corruption Scandal Breaks Wide Open.
The Liberal Party of Canada is allegedly starting to panic and prepare for a snap election. Why? The Gomery Commission has created a publication ban on the testimony of three key witnesses. Once this is lifted the Liberals might be a little more than embarassed at the level of corruption in their party.
While the Canadian press is unable to report on this testimony, you are free to read it online if you know where to look (see link above). This calls into question the whole point of publication bans and their effectiveness.
The Canadian government can’t prevent Canadians from reading political blogs from around the world. A judge imposing a publication ban is pointless when you consider that most people have access to the Internet.
Despite the gun registry fiasco, Canadians for the most part forgave the Liberals and put Paul Martin into power. The sponsorship scandal won’t amount to a billion dollars of taxes payer’s wasted money but it may be enough to wake up the rest of the country.
Posted in Observations at 8:05 PM | Comments (0)
DVD Deals at FutureShop
There are some pretty good deals at FutureShop on DVDs right now. They have a lot of discs marked $9.99, buy 2 get another $9.99 for free.
I picked up the special editions of Fargo, Blue Velvet and The Princess Bride for $19.98 plus tax. Not a bad deal.
Posted in Observations at 5:08 PM | Comments (0)
Honeywell Thermostats
This post is for you homeowners out there. Last year I decided to get a new thermostat for our house. After a quick trip down to the Home Depot and I purchased a Honeywell thermostat (CT3600).
Installation was quite easy—connect a few wires, put in 3 AA batteries, and program your settings. This thermostat has a seven-day program capability. I can have different settings for each day of the week that lower the temperature when nobody is home. This saved us some money on our heating bills last winter. If you don’t have a programmable thermostat then crawl out of you cave and get one.
Now the bad news. Recently, the thermostat began going through batteries on a weekly basis. The replace battery light would flash and then the thermostat would shut off. This would be followed by complaints of “it’s freezing in this house!” After the second package of batteries was drained I called the company that services our furnace.
$90 later my furnace was cleaned and inspected. Everything looks great except the thermostat. It probably has a short somewhere and is draining the batteries each time they’re installed. The batteries should last a year. Just replace the thermostat is what the service guy told me.
Do you think I could find the receipt from a year ago? I called Honeywell to complain and tell them that there thermostats suck. After waiting for 10 minutes of listening to Christmas music and Honeywell ads that sound like they were read by adults with a grade four ed-u-ca-tion, I heard a human voice.
I told Brad (my service rep) how disappointed I was with my Honeywell thermostat. He assured me that there wasn’t a common problem with the model that I had. Then he asked me for my address and telephone number and put me on hold for 10 minutes!
I was so tempted to hang up but waited patiently. Finally, Brad came back on the line, apologized for the wait and explained that he had to authorize a replacement for me. Huh? I’m getting a replacement model? Yes.
After a 20 minute phone call, some simple questions, and a lot of patience, I’m getting a new thermostat delivered to my door in the next 7 business days. I was shocked. Customer service is alive and well at Honeywell. Bell Canada could learn a few things from these guys.
Posted in Observations at 7:26 PM | Comments (1)
Bell Canada—excellent customer service
If you’re Canadian then you’ll view my headline as a paradox. Bell Canada called me up at 6:15 PM while I was preparing dinner. They wanted to update my customer profile to imrpove their customer service. One of the questions they asked me was to confirm my user login for their Internet service—Bell Sympatico. At this point I’m thinking that this could be a scam or Bell is just that dumb.
Who sits at their computer in 2004 and enters a login and password to connect to the Internet? Hello? Router? Connection script? I’m always logged on with my router and laughed at her question.
The best part is when they asked me to hold the line and confirm the information I just gave them. I’m prompted to press 1 for English service and 2 for French service. I choose English, hear a slight pause and then get disconnected. Morons.
Posted in Observations at 7:44 PM | Comments (0)
I want my Globe and Mail newspaper!
I used to read the Globe and Mail newspaper each morning. I had it delivered to my office in Markham. Now I don’t read the Globe and Mail because their distribution department is full of a bunch of dumb asses.
I moved my office to Toronto over a month ago. I notified the Globe and Mail of my address change and haven’t seen my newspaper since. Over the last three weeks I’ve made countless calls and complaints to their distribution department. I’ve been promised that the paper will “arrive tomorrow” three times now and have yet to see my Globe at 577 Kingston Road.
I can’t believe that this newspaper is still in business with the deplorable customer service they have.
Posted in Observations at 7:08 PM | Comments (0)
35 or 28?
On Wednesday night I decided to join a few of the guys on my hockey team, The Holy Rollers, for a beer. I don’t know a lot of the guys on this team and they were suprised to hear that I had my own business, a wife, a five year old, etc.
Most of these guys are in their early 20s, some are attending university, all of them are younger than I am which is probably why I felt like vomitting after our last game (I’m a little out of shape). One of the guys asked me about my age and I mentioned that I was 35 (I’m 36 in 22 days). They all looked amazed and said that they thought that I was 28 years old, tops.
Needless to say, I’m feeling pretty good about myself this week.
Posted in Observations at 7:46 PM | Comments (0)
Starbuck$ Coffee
Back in August, a story appeared in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer titled, The Insider: Starbucks’ prices won’t be cheaper for much longer The last time Starbucks raised their prices was in August 2000 (increase of 7¢ a cup). Well, 4 years have gone by and the price just went up again by about 7¢.
Last night I was working late and decided to go the the Starbucks in the Beaches. I usually get a Grande size coffee (medium) and it used to cost $1.87 CDN. Last night it cost $1.98 CDN. Ouch!
I love my Starbucks coffee but won’t be buying very much of it by the cup. I prefer to buy their beans and grind them at home.
There is also a local coffee shop down the street from my office called The Savoury Grounds Coffee Co. which has great coffee. Its medium size coffee is a little smaller than a Grande and costs $1.45—a little easier to stomach.
Posted in Observations at 5:01 PM
Kodiak Smokeless Tobacco and projectile vomiting
This weekend I went with a few of the boys to a Nascar race at Michigan International Speedway. On Saturday night we went to The Bone Yard for some BBQ ribs. We usually go to a sports bar called Kickers afterward but it was closed due to the power blackout.
So how do four Canadian guys amuse themselves in a Detroit suburb on a Saturday night? They go to a Seven Eleven and purchase some chewing tobacco. Then they drive around until they find a small town called Farmington which resembles Mayberry from the Andy Griffith Show. Below is my recollection of what happened between 8 PM and 10 PM that night.
My friend Gary is the first to try some Wintergreen flavoured Kodiak Smokeless Tobacco. He takes a very small pinch and puts in his mouth. Real men chew tobacco so I take a small pinch out of the can and carefully place it in my mouth. The other two guys with us, John and Russ think we’re crazy and refuse to try. Naturally, I tease them and repeatedly call them a bunch of wimps.Gary warned me that my mouth would start to salivate right away, which it did. He also said I would get a buzz from the nicotine but I wasn’t feeling anything. “Give it some time,” he said. He also warned me not to swallow any.
We wandered around the town for a little, spitting tobacco, looking for a place to get a pint. I was getting bored with this little piece of tobacco and decided to put a much bigger wad in the side of my mouth—the same way major league pitchers do between innings before they head back to the mound.
We approached the main street and in less than a minute I began to feel light-headed. Then I began to feel dizzy, unstable, reaching for the side of buildings to balance myself. I wobbled over to a park bench across from the movie theatre and sat down as my head begin to spin. I spit out the tobacco. I was amazed at how fast it affected the rest of my body.
The other three guys were killing themselves with laughter as I began to keel over on this bench. I was beginning to feel nauseous and worried about the huge slab of BBQ ribs I had earlier. Too late! I asked the guys to stop laughing and help me up. I was going to be sick.
I looked around and saw a pot of geraniums beside a building. Leaning against the building with one hand I bent over and emptied my dinner on top of those geraniums. A family out for ice cream walked by. I didn’t notice them but the guys assured me that this family was not impressed with my abdominal strength. They probably assumed I had a few too many pints at the pub across the street. I fertilized the geraniums for a little while and sat back down on the bench in disbelief.
Feeling dizzy and hot from hurling, John found some cold bottled water for me from one of the nearby stores. I noticed that Gary was buckled over as well but it was from laughing so hard. I was the entertainment for the evening. As if things couldn’t get any worse, I realized that a severe case of diarrhea was about to finish me off.
I sprang up and staggered around telling the guys that, “I need to find a bathroom! Now! I’m not kidding guys! I gotta go!!” John found me a washroom in the pub across the street. I was relieved. The stall was occupied. John tried the door a few times when I voice said, “I’ll be just a minute.” That minute seemed like an eternity.
I found relief in the washroom and wandered out to the bar where they guys were still laughing at my stupidity. The smell of food made nauseous again and I staggered outside. I had to vomit again but my pot of geraniums was across the street and the light was red. I didn’t care. I ran out into the street in front of a pickup truck that stopped to let me pass. Right in front of the truck I projectile vomited into the street—a first for me. I found another bench down the street and sipped my water for the next hour while they guys had a beer in the pub.
Back out our hotel, I cleaned up and went to bed. Passed out is more like it.
After great embarassment, I can now say that I have experienced chewing tobacco, that it is a disgusting habit and that I’m not a real man.
Posted in Humour and Observations and Travel at 10:05 AM | Comments (33)
