Have you been to Neechie Gear before? It's a Canadian brand with a social conscience! Run by my good friend Kendal Netmaker, Neechie Gear is outfitting youths across Canada and promoting the positive aspects of sports among youth! This Aboriginal award-winning company is continually making waves throughout Canada!
Neechie Gear's mission is to offer quality products that look and feel great. Their customers make it possible for them to support and develop the non-profit organization, the NG Athletics Club Inc. They highly value their customers and strive to provide excellent customer service.
Well, Neechie Gear has a special offer to those who visit this website. Starting next Monday, April 16, 2012 and ending April 20, 2012, you will receive a 10% discount. As long as you mention to Mr. Netmaker that I, or this website referred you, you will receive a 10% discount on any merchandise you purchase! It's great merchandise, so why not buy something from Saskatoon's best entrepreneur? Please note that this deal is only available at the kiosk, and not online!
Initially, the store was run online only, but the business has since opened up a retail location/kiosk at The Centre Mall in Saskatoon. Voted as Saskatoon's best entrepreneur of 2012, the retail kiosk is part of the prize.
So... drop by and say hello, then take advantage of discounted apparel!
More information on this partnership/deal can be found by clicking here.
Hello! It has been more than two weeks since I've last updated this blog, and
I thought I should update this blog now, rather than later, to prevent a
longer-than-necessary blog update! So... let's get started with the things I
like to complain about...
The first thing I'd like to discuss is the use of the subjective phrase "our tax
dollars." Well, an elected government has the right to set the tax rates that we
presently pay. As such, when the government decides to use the money you pay
them for whatever they'd like to do with it, you no longer have a say in what
they do. If you don't like what the government is doing with what you've given
them, you have the right to vote for another party or person once the next
election occurs. As far as I'm concerned, once you give the government your
money, it no longer belongs to you. It belongs to the government, which in
itself can be considered a business. So, for those of you who refer to
government money as "our tax dollars" with an emphasis on the word "our," you
should cut it out, as you all sound annoying. And for those of you who think
that your local city, province or federal government does not care about what
you think, it's probably true... and you should stop caring. Why? Governing and
making policy decisions based on public opinion is stupid, as public opinion
changes way too easily.
The next thing I'd like to discuss is the recent
NDP leadership race that saw
Thomas Mulcair become the new leader of the New Democratic Party of Canada
on March 24, 2012. For the party, it's logical, because he represents a Québec
riding and he may be the person that can hold the momentum created from the
"Orange Crush" that occurred during the 2011 federal election. But outside of
Québec, he seems like a pretentious and arrogant elitist, which works out well
for the Conservative Party of Canada.
As for the leadership race itself, I thought the entire race was boring, and the
only time it was interesting was when former leader Ed Broadbent (a supporter of
Brian Topp)
criticized Mr. Mulcair. However, even that was boring.
At a time when it might be warranted and fun to start smear campaign against
your own "colleagues," the NDP failed to do so. When it comes to picking someone
to represent their party, the Republican Party
in the United States knows how to do things right, as they are more than willing
to attack their fellow Republicans through
smear
campaigns (such as ads from Newt Gingrich 'attacking' Mitt Romney). As for
the leadership race's outcome, they could have done worse. As much as I dislike
Mr. Mulcair, I'm glad they didn't pick someone as lame as
Niki Ashton, who decided that it would
be a good idea for the Government of Canada to
directly produce generic drugs through a new Crown corporation. As for Mr.
Mulcair's intentions to move a far-left party to the centre, I hope that plan
backfires. Anyway, congratulations to him on winning the leadership, I guess.
With this aside, please support a very good
cause, then watch this informative video:
The next thing I would like to discuss is the death of the
Saskatchewan Film Employment Tax
Credit. The tax credit itself is part of the reason why Corner Gas was filmed in our
province. Without the tax credit, a reunion of the show's cast, if there is ever
one, is
unlikely to be filmed in Saskatchewan, unless the tax credit is restored.
Although I can appreciate the reason as to why the tax credit was scrapped, I am
hoping its death is temporary. Speaking of Corner Gas, I
have yet to travel out to Rouleau, Saskatchewan to check out the set, and would
like to do so in the near future (hopefully this year). Speaking of that show,
here are some of my favourite moments (in a particular order)...
The next person I would like to "talk about" is
David Suzuki, whom I've considered to be a fraud over the last number of years.
Recently, his "foundation," known as the
David Suzuki Foundation has begun an online campaign to "tell the Senate to
stop silencing environmental groups." Why? Because the Senate has
launched
an inquiry into the foreign funding of environmental groups in Canada.
What's particularly interesting is that the David Suzuki Foundation has received
hundreds of thousands of dollars in support from American foundations, according
to the news article I've referenced. That fact right there makes me think that
he's only complaining as a way of attempting to raise more cash money for his
lame "foundation." So... does David Suzuki really care about the environment, or
is he just finding ways to raise cash money for the David Suzuki Foundation? I
guess we'll never know... but I don't believe anything he says anymore. In fact,
I'd like to say that Mr. Suzuki is an absolute disgrace.
The next topic I'd like to discuss is the two-year sentence that convicted child
abuser Graham James. In fact, I am so disgusted by the light sentence handed down
by Judge Catherine Carlson that I will let someone else speak for me. In this
article or opinion piece, the National
Post's Kelly McParland says "The message Canadians can't help absorbing from
the ridiculously light sentence handed to serial sex abuser Graham James is that
the justice system doesn't think assaulting young people is a big deal." That
statement alone is something I agree with, and I feel that
Bill C-10: Safe Streets and Communities Act, cannot become law soon
enough! There may be reasons for the light sentence, but Mr. McParland also says
that you can't blame the judge for the light sentence, "But still she gave him a
sentence that Canadians will have to interpret as a signal that sexual abuse of
vulnerable young people is not viewed as a major crime. You can't really blame
the judge for that: it's the way the Canadian system works." That second
statement, right there, is another reason Bill C-10: Safe Streets and
Communities Actcannot come into
law soon enough! Now, although this seems like a real travesty (and it
is), people
in Canada have
received lighter sentences for crimes worse than this. However,
regardless of circumstance, I don't think two years in prison is enough time in
prison for Mr. James, and I feel that Bill C-10 should be passed sooner.
As for the time that Mr. James will be spending in prison, I highly doubt that
he'll spend the entire two-year sentence in prison.
The last thing I'd like to talk about before I talk about my life in great
detail is the
ongoing dispute between the labour unions and
Air Canada (eventually,
an illegal strike occurred). As someone who has flown numerous times before,
I prefer the seating arrangements with Air Canada, but the service with
WestJet is much friendlier, despite having
less comfortable seats, so it's a trade-off. As such, I have no preference as to
which airline is better. However, in a time of bitter disputes between the
union(s) and the airline, I officially side with the airline. Why? I've had a
bad experience as a union member in 2007 when I was forced to be a member of the
United Food and Commercial Workers UnionLocal 1400. Based on that terrible
experience, I have despised all labour unions since that time. Sure, I believe
in unions exercising their rights, as long as it doesn't annoy or
affect me. However, if any government (regardless of
political stripe) is willing to step in to prevent strikes from occurring in the
first place or effectively screw over (by placing many restrictions on them) a
labour union, I'm all for it. I'm also a big fan
of back-to-work legislation and
essential services legislation. In tough economic times such as... now,
employees should be glad they have a job, even if they have to face restrictions
on their pay and/or benefits, which forms part of the reason I am against labour
unions, which often have unreasonable demands.
Well... moving on. It's now time to talk about my life in excruciatingly-great
detail.
In my last update, I told readers of this immaculately-coded blog that I had
taken my mom to the hospital on March 11, 2012 and that I would provide an
update to you in the near future. As such, I will be doing that right now. On
March 11, 2012, I took my mom to the
St. Paul's Hospital because she had
problems with her vision in her right eye. A doctor at the hospital determined
that she may be suffering from a
retinal detachment, which in short, is a hole
in the eye. However, he was unsure, as he did not have the resources for a full
check-up. So, we were sent to the Eye Care Centre at the
Saskatoon City
Hospital. After an additional check-up, it was confirmed by another doctor that
she was indeed suffering from a retinal detachment and treatment was attempted
with specific eye drops and the injection of a gas bubble, which also had to be
administered at least four times a day. Furthermore, she was not allowed to lie
down, meaning she had to sleep while sitting in an upright position. We were
then told to return the following day to see if the treatment had worked. On
Monday, March 12, 2012, we returned, only to be told that the hole/gash became
larger, and an additional gas bubble was injected. There was also a hole
developing in her left eye, and a gas bubble was injected in her left eye as a
precaution as well. We returned to the hospital on Thursday, March 15,
2012, and she had a laser treatment performed on her left eye, but the right eye
wasn't quite ready for the laser treatment, yet. As such, we were told to see
him again on Monday, March 19, 2012... at his office in the Medical Arts
Building. At 9:05 am, we made it to his office and waited for more than hour.
Once we left, my mom was told that she would receive a laser treatment in her
right eye on Thursday, March 22, 2012. On March 22, 2012, we returned to the
Saskatoon City Hospital for that additional laser treatment. Although that
additional laser treatment meant that my mom's eyes are as "normal" as they can
be, that does not mean that the days of not being able to lie down are
over, as she has an additional check-up scheduled for March 29, 2012 (Thursday),
which will hopefully be the final straw. I shall keep you updated. Throughout
the hospital visits, however, there was one person I saw protesting almost every
time I was there (it was a protest about pro-life issues, and there were also
people there that were
pro-choice).
Moving on... I have taken a lot of interesting pictures around Saskatoon lately.
Here is a list of some of my favourites, in no particular order:
Employees of Culligan and
Coca-Cola were probably reading each
other's minds as they parked in a similar fashion. Click
here and
here for proof.
Someone posted a menacing ad on the third floor of the Spinks Addition
of the Thorvaldson Building demanding that someone help him
root his phone in
exchange for $40.
The men's washroom third floor of the Spinks Addition of the Thorvaldson
Building was out of commission at one point.
Here's why.
A huge sinkhole developed just north of 39th Street on Idylwyld Drive
North. A sign warning motorists of the damage is installed
just south of 22nd
Street.
Circle West Centre is coming alone nicely... they've installed
a new sign that
replaces the previous Canadian Tire
sign. The new JYSK store is getting doors
from Record, which is
new to me.
I took a few more pictures of the inside of a Blockbuster Canada Co.
store located at 402 Ludlow Street that closed as of September 30, 2011.
I miss that store.
Burger King has some new
creative ideas for their coupons. "2 CAN DINE" has been replaced by "GO
ON A DATE."
It's election time on campus again, and there are some posters I just
don't like. This
specific campaign poster, for instance, angers me and gives me the urge
to find the gentleman and give him the "dangerously silly move." Then,
there's a poster
with
improper grammar.
Metro, "Canada's no. 1
free daily newspaper," is launching in Saskatoon on April 2, 2012. The
placement of their newspaper boxes is questionable. Here's a
picture I took.
Then, here's
another one I took... then the
final one I took
today.
A lot of interesting things have occurred in the news as well. Here are some
of "stories of note," in no particular order...
Now, it's time to talk about my life in great detail. For
starters, the week of March 11-17 was a tough one. I was planning on spending
the weekend of March 10-11 writing two essays that would be due on March 13 and
March 15, respectively. Unfortunately, due to my
mom's circumstances, that did not happen. During the week, my
Twitter account was hacked. I also
used
this app to pinpoint where my car was parked on campus in an unfamiliar
parking lot. When I returned to the lot, I was standing right behind my car, and
I didn't even know it (it took me almost a full two minutes to figure this out).
How sad is that? During this particular week, I decided that I am
never taking a class on public policy again. March 16, 2012,
however, was Tammy Poorman's birthday. She invited me to the new
Hudsons Canadian Tap
House on 21st Street East for her birthday party, but I declined, being the
"anti-social" that I am (I actually had to work). St. Patrick's Day (March 17)
happened to fall on a Saturday this year, which hasn't happened in five years.
Sadly, I had to work... which is good, because I wouldn't be out causing trouble
(not that I would be going out in the first place). This is the stuff that
occurred aside from my dealing with my mom's
circumstances. As for the essays that were due that week, I took a 10%
penalty on both of them and submitted them last week.
During the week of March 18-24, however, things were a little bit different.
During the week, my mom's eye issue was still
affecting that week. For starters, I encountered this
interesting Kijiji ad riddled with spelling mistakes. I also finished a
2,000-word paper in under 90 minutes. And on Tuesday, March 20, 2012, I saw my
friend Jennifer on campus. On another note, I went back to school that night and
found a parking meter that had almost two hours remaining on it. I also made a
couple of interesting bets with
Larry Chen...
click
here and
here for more information. I also finished my public policy paper for my
POLS 328: Public Policy Analysis class. On Thursday, March 22, 2012, I got
hit lightly by a Ford
Escape on campus by someone who said they didn't see me. Naturally, I blamed
this on Kati, who happens to drive a Ford Escape. I also "harassed" Esther's mom
at work and then returned to school, where I parked underground and used an
elevator to go up one floor... twice (up to the "ground" floor in the Agriculture Building from the underground parking lot and up one floor from
the ground floor in the
Archaeology Building). On Thursday, my work computer stopped working
properly, putting me out of commission until further notice. On Friday and
Saturday, I spent a little bit of time watching the
NDP leadership convention that resulted in
Thomas Mulcair being
elected as their new leader. However, I never thought it could be so boring.
Now, there's a show I used to watch on FOX
known as America's Most Wanted. FOX
decided to cancel the show and gave host John Walsh the opportunity to present
the show to other networks that weren't in direct competition with them.
Eventually, the show was picked up by
Lifetime, which may or may not be available in Canada. If it were, I'm not
subscribing to it. So, as a result of not being able to watch it on regular
television in Canada, I have been forced to watch the show (each episode
becoming available eight days after the episode airs) on mylifetime.com while
using Ultrasurf and/or
Hotspot Shield, as mylifetime.com is
a U.S.-only website. Anyway, on Saturday, when I watched the episode that aired
on March 16, 2012, I saw this:
I like how irrelevant some of the facts are... who doesn't like to eat chips and
drink soda?! At some point during the weekend, however, my cousins came over and
caused some trouble.
To start off this week, I saw my favourite shows on the "Animation
Domination" programming block on FOX
yesterday. I also spent some time working on this blog update. As for today, I
went to school, and then came home to watch television, before working on this
blog update. Starting tomorrow, I will begin working on an essay for my
POLS 249: Institutions and Processes of American Government class, which is
due on Friday. I originally had plans to attend a
city council meeting this evening, but plans changed, and I ended up not
going. On the bright side, Parliament is sitting this week, unlike last week,
meaning
question period is back! Effective tomorrow, however, it will have been two
years since the
reservations centre I used to work at, closed. Since that time, I've been
working from home (before that). Although I enjoy working from home, I do, more
than often, actually miss leaving my house to go to work.
Now that my long blog update is complete, I'd like to talk about some things to
look forward to in the coming weeks. For starters, the
Government of Canada will introduce
Budget 2012 to
Parliament on Thursday, and many cuts are
expected. Furthermore, a new episode of
How I Met Your Mother aired on March 19, 2012. The next new episode
will not air until April 9, 2012, so I can't wait until that day actually
arrives. And lastly, in less than two weeks, the last day of classes at the
University of Saskatchewan for the term will
be upon us on April 5, 2012 with final exams beginning on April 9, 2012. I will
have final exams on April 9; 17; 20; 24 and 25, 2012. After that, I look forward
to some relaxation from school before a summer of working full-time hours begins
at some point in the month of May. I also hope to pursue something big, but more
information on that will come at a later date.
Hello everyone! I understand that it has been almost two months since I've
made my last blog update, and I'm sure that none of you are upset, with the
exception of two specific people (one living somewhere in the middle of nowhere,
known as New Brunswick, and the other living an elitist city they call Calgary).
Anyway, let's start off with my nonsensically-long blog update.
I have a lot of things to talk about, so we'll start with the things I'd love to
discuss, even if they are somewhat controversial.
One of the first things I would like to talk about, as it annoys me, is Tim
Tebow, and his "Tebowing." First of all, I don't like football. When people are
watching the Super Bowl, I'm... not watching the Super Bowl. When people are
watching CFL games, or the
Grey Cup game, I am... not watching the Grey Cup
game, and could care less who wins the Grey Cup, unless it's the
Saskatchewan
Roughriders. Usually, I don't care for football, but when it comes to
Tim Tebow,
I can't stand his "Tebowing." For those of you who don't know what "Tebowing"
is, it's the "act of kneeling on one knee in prayer with one's head resting on
one's fist," according
to Wikipedia, and looks something along the lines of this:
We know that Mr. Tebow is religious, and I respect that, as I am also religious.
The only problem I have with his "Tebowing" is that many people think it's so
"cool" that they've began copying it, and that is what annoys me. Everyone
should start to cut it out. By searching "the
Google," you'll find
many images of people copying Tim Tebow's appearance when he prays to God.
Then, you get even more when you
perform a search on Flickr. Despite my hatred for the "Tebowing," I do enjoy
this specific picture, as it was
obviously taken
at a Toyota dealer.
The next thing I'd like to talk about is gift-giving. When it comes to birthday
and/or Christmas presents, I love receiving gifts, no matter what the gift is.
However, what annoys me is when people ask you what you'd like for your
birthday, Christmas (or Festivus), or any other special occasion. I'm a very
complex individual that will appreciate anything that people give me,
regardless of how useful or useless the gift may be. Really, it's the thought
that counts! If someone has to ask you what you'd like to receive as a gift,
that person isn't really a good friend, are they? When it comes to gift giving,
I take a lot of things into consideration, with many of those things being
nonsensical. If you want to make gift-giving fun, always consider how useless
your gift will be to the recipient. Speaking of gift giving, it's best not to
"re-gift" things.
Next, I'd like to talk about the Honourable
Peter Kent, the
Minister of
Environment for the Government of Canada. As
much as I love the Conservative government, I do not believe that Mr. Kent is a
good environment minister. If anything, Prime Minister Stephen Harper should
replace him with someone entertaining, like
David Anderson, from Saskatchewan
(Cypress Hills-Grasslands), even though Mr. Anderson is a farmer and is more
suited towards an agricultural role within the government. If there's any role
Mr. Kent should play, he seems more suited as Leader of the Government in the
House of Commons. And by the way, I love Stephen Harper, and I do believe we
should get rid of this cumbersome democracy and make
him our
supreme monarch once and for all.
Earlier this year, the Honourable James
Moore, the Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages for the
Government of Canada, got
married to long-time girlfriend Courtney Payne. I "tweeted" about that when
I first heard the news, and he responded. Here is a screenshot of my tweet, and
Mr. Moore's response:
Again, I would like to congratulate Mr. Moore on his marriage earlier this year.
Not
long ago, the Conservative government was under fire when a government lawyer
argued that thousands of same-sex marriages performed in Canada for tourists
that came to Canada may not be legal marriages, particularly if they now reside
in places that do not recognize same-sex marriages. The case stemmed from a
divorce between a woman from Florida and another woman from England, who were
seeking a divorce. The government officially ended the excitement of
frivolous lawsuits when the Honourable Rob Nicholson, Minister of Justice and
Attorney General of Canada, announced that existing legislation would be changed
to allow Canada to recognize all marriages, including the ones that may be
considered illegal. As much as I like hearing about lame and baseless lawsuits
on the news, I am pleased that the government will be changing existing
legislation to accommodate the recognition of all marriages, including same-sex
marriages for couples not residing in Canada. I am also pleased to learn that
California's Proposition 8 (banned same-sex marriages in California) was found
to be unconstitutional. Proposition 8 was voted upon by residents of California,
and the "yes" side won, thus banning same-sex marriages in California. However,
it was
recently found to be unconstitutional, thus proving that things can be
considered unconstitutional even if "We The People" want it. Although it may
seem like a victory right now, both proponents and opponents of the ban have
vowed to appeal the case all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States.
If they refuse to hear the case(s), then it will be safe to assume that same-sex
marriage will be forever legal in California. If they do agree to hear the
applicable case(s), then this saga is far from over. I'm hoping that the Supreme
Court will not hear the case, as it would be a waste of time and resources,
which could be better used to train all 300,000,000+ Americans to give Reverend
Nathan the "dangerously silly move," thus damaging him, psychologically. Speaking
of Reverend Nathan, I've had to find a replacement friend to watch Cops with since Reverend Nathan stopped
watching traditional television altogether because he's... odd, and in a
committed relationship now. Recently, my friend Kojo received a personal video
recorder (PVR) for Christmas and started recording every episode of the show,
both old and new. In 2007, Reverend Nathan received a PVR for Christmas and
began doing the same thing. That's eerily similar, isn't it? That's a shame...
for Nathan, as he doesn't know what he's
been missing.
The next person I would like to talk about is the
Honourable John Baird, Minister of
Foreign Affairs for the Government of Canada.
Mr. Baird has served in numerous capacities since being elected to the House of
Commons on January 23, 2006, including, but not limited to Leader of the Government in the House of Commons; Minister of the Environment (twice); Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities; President of the Treasury Board and his current role as Minister of Foreign Affairs. When
Mr. Baird was the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, I
always found him entertaining during question period. However, beyond his
entertaining ways during question period, Mr. Baird is a hard-working
individual, both for his constituents and the people of Canada, and I've always
been proud of him in any position. Over time, I always thought that Mr. Baird
should have been promoted to a higher post. In fact, when I met the Right
Honourable Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada, on September 9, 2010, I
told him: "You should promote John Baird." Mr. Harper, at the time, kind of
formally thanked me for my opinion and then thanked me for coming out to see
him, after complimenting me on my Conservative Party of Canada t-shirt before I
got my picture taken with him. But on May 2, 2011, the Conservative government
was re-elected with a strong, stable, national, majority Conservative
government. Following the defeat of
Lawrence Cannon, Mr. Baird became the Minister of Foreign Affairs, which,
coincidentally, came months after I made such an odd suggestion (I doubt there's
a connection though). Although I am extremely proud of Mr. Baird for being named
Minister of Foreign Affairs, I kind of miss seeing him regularly during question
period.
Recently, I received an interesting email. I've signed up for email updates from
every group-sharing website that I could think of that serves the Saskatoon
area. For an outdated list,
click here. Anyway, SwarmJam is one of
them... and one day, I found that a local used book store, where Reverend Nathan
works, called Westgate Books, was featured on the website,
via this email (to view the website instead,
click here). For $5.00, you could purchase a voucher for up to $10.00 worth
of "premium used books." Owned by Ann Dutnall, the store has moved numerous
times throughout its history, but has moved only once since she has owned it.
The only problem is, the store is called Westgate Books, but it's not located
anywhere near the Westgate Plaza on 22nd Street West. The store itself used to
be located on 22nd Street West, but moved across town. At the time, her evil son
suggested that the store be renamed "Eastgate Books," which is an idea I fully
support to this day. Sadly, the idea was never taken seriously. I was recently
asked if I'll be using that $10.00 voucher I bought anytime soon. To address
that question, I will be using it on the last possible day, which is July 26,
2012. I've already marked my calendar with this important event. In response,
Ann said that I have too much free time. Well... she's just jealous. I do buy things
from that store, but it's rare for me to do so. My most recent purchase was a
copy of
The Bro Code, Barney Stinson's book of general rules that all
"bros" should stand by on How I Met Your
Mother. I absolutely love that show. Speaking of How I Met Your
Mother, that show has gone through some dramatic changes for every
character as of recently. Ted told Robin he loved her, and now it feels weird to
watch the show. Obviously, I've been enjoying that show way too much.
Robin has since moved out of the apartment she shares with Ted, and Barney has
been pursuing a stripper named Quinn...
Moving on...
When it comes to local politics, I've always disliked local politics. Why? It's
boring. Secondly, we have a lot of city councillors who may be too far to the
left, ideologically, for my own comfort. If anything makes me dislike the
current city council, it's this
specific news article from The StarPhoenix. As you may or may not
know, Canada's strong, stable, national,
majority Conservative government is currently in talks with the European
Union in terms of the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade
Agreement (CETA). Under this agreement, municipal projects such as future
overpasses and/or interchanges may be open to bidding from companies outside of
Canada. For example, had this agreement been in place prior to tendering for the
Circle Drive South Project, the project could have been open for bidding to
construction companies based in one of the 27 European Union member countries.
However, Saskatoon Ward 3 Councillor Ann Iwanchuk introduced a motion, which, if
passed, would require the City of Saskatoon
to seek an exemption from the deal. That's a bad idea, as free trade never
really hurt any developed countries (or did they?). Regardless, I saw potential
problems, such as this one, looming when she won the by-election in Ward 3 after
the unfortunate passing of Maurice Neault. Why? The fact that she works for a
union was concerning to me. In 2009, the civic elections resulted in the
re-election of every single incumbent councillor, with some of them running
unopposed. Hopefully, in 2012, the civic election comes with a new set of city
councillors. Now, as far as mayors go, I'd say
Rob Ford is certainly
an interesting mayor. You know you're awesome when a small group of people think
you should be "fired."
Personally, I like the way he's handing a thorny issue:
public transit plans within his own city, while being overruled by a bunch
of lame city councillors. Besides, what's not to love about him? He's "300
pounds of fun."
Not long ago, I wrote a letter to Halifax MP
Megan Leslie from the
New
Democratic Party of Canada (NDP) chastising her for going on a bizarre
anti-trade mission to Washington, D.C., to criticize her own government's
actions on the Keystone XL pipeline. Her response was just as useless as the
letter I sent her. To see my letter and her response, please
click
here. As for U.S. President Barack Obama, who denied
TransCanada's application for a
presidential permit, I think he's crazy... of course it's all about political
games. If he approves the pipeline, his environmental-friendly supporters will
stop giving him money for his re-election fund. If he doesn't, he will continue
to be criticized by everyone... so I guess money solves everything. Speaking of
money, I like TransCanada's style in dealing with property owners: pay them lots
of money. If they refuse to allow you to build a pipeline through their
property,
take legal action until you've exhausted your legal options. I also wrote a positive letter to the
Honourable Rob Nicholson,
Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada. He responded with useful
stuff. To check out my letter to him and his subsequent response, please
click here. Also, I must say that Mr. Nicholson has a really cool signature.
Speaking of law and order, I'd like to give whoever made the "Vikileaks30"
Twitter account (which has since been shut down) the "dangerously silly move,"
which is a series of hand-flapping meant to intimidate people and "damage people
psychologically." Speaking of the NDP, the party will be picking its
new "permanent" leader
during the March 23-24 weekend. Out of the existing candidates that have chosen
to run for the leadership, I doubt
Niki Ashton
will win, I seriously doubt that
Martin Singh
would win. The same goes for
Peggy Nash,
Paul Dewar or
Nathan Cullen.
That leaves Brian
Topp or
Thomas Mulcair as the front-runners, in my mind. Hopefully, Brian Topp will
not win. But as for who I'd like to
see win, that's not something I should be discussing, as I would never for vote
for an NDP candidate in my own riding, ever. The NDP
leadership race, however, has so far been... extremely boring, unlike
the race for the presidential nomination for the
Republican party in the United States, which only got boring... recently.
Also, for those critics who criticize
Bill C-10: Safe Streets & Communities Act by saying that it goes
too far, this is the type of bill you asked for. You've said that Canada's
justice system "is a joke." But when an elected government finally does
something about it, you think it goes too far. Which one is it? Make up your
minds. Please note the last few sentences of this paragraph are
directed at one specific individual and those who do not support the bill, and
that specific individual should know who they are. Why are the critics so
hypocritical? For those of you who actually like the idea of the government
standing up for victims' rights,
click
here for a 'backgrounder.' Perhaps these critics are soft-on-crime. But
personally, I can't wait for the NDP to pick their new leader, as I can't stand
listening to Nycole Turmel
(especially when she speaks English). I'd like to believe that once this
leadership convention is over, we'll be hearing from her less and less, which
can only be a good thing. But on another note, I like the fact that
PETA and
Greenpeace are now considered to be
terrorist organizations by the RCMP and
CSIS,
according to this article. It's about time! I also enjoy the Honourable
Joe Oliver's "definition" of the term "radicals."
It makes total sense to me!
Speaking of the Republican party, the race has
been interesting. First, my favourite candidate,
Herman Cain, stepped down. At some
point, others, including Rick Perry and
Michele Bachmann... stepped down.
Now, as of recently, the top spot has been alternating between
Newt Gingrich,
Mitt Romney and
Rick Santorum. I don't necessarily
care about who will win the race in the end... I just hope it's not Newt
Gingrich. A man who preached about family values while cheating on his wife
would probably make a lame president. Plus, I'm sure Rick Santorum or Mitt
Romney are both considered to be more electable than Mr. Gingrich.
The next topic I'd like to 'complain' about is Mexico. For many Canadians,
Mexico is a great place to visit to escape the cold, harsh winters of Canada,
right? Sure... weather-wise, it's fine. But in terms of cool things to do,
Mexico is not a country I'd like to visit. If I were to visit a place for its
beaches and sunshine, I'd rather visit the United States, as they have Hawaii.
However, there is a new concern in terms of visiting Mexico: safety. Over the
last number of years, there have been numerous cases of Canadians being attacked
while visiting Mexico. The most recent victim (in Mazatlan) that was on the news
was Sheila Nabb, who has
since been released from hospital. She may, however, require additional
surgeries. Aside from Mrs. Nabb, there was another attack in 2009 at a strip
club. In that case, someone opened fire with their guns and
two Canadians were injured. There have been a lot of cases reported over the
years, but I will not get into it. However, I have never had much of an interest
in visiting Mexico... and the most recent attack on an innocent victim has
dampened any interest I may have had whatsoever.
The next thing I'd like to talk about
Microsoft's methods of innovation. When Microsoft first appeared in the
computing world, it took the world by storm, and continued to dominate the
computing world for many years. In recent years, however, its biggest rival,
Apple (their biggest mistake was investing in Apple in 1997
when the company was almost on its deathbed), has
seen its value surpass the value of Microsoft. However, I think the company
began to falter when
Bill Gates stopped running the company. Sure,
Steve Ballmer might
be cool, and
hilarious, but under his leadership, the company seems like it has given up
on innovation and developing new products. For example, the
Zune, which
has a lot of great potential, has seen its production scrapped. As for the
Xbox 360, I have never owned one, so I
wouldn't know what it's like. But more recently, Microsoft this year
signed an agreement with LG Electronics in which they would basically receive a
certain amount of money from manufacturers who utilize the Android operating
system, as the company alleges that Android products violate certain patents
that they already own. In addition to LG, other companies that currently pay
Microsoft include HTC,
Samsung and
Acer. As far as I'm concerned, Microsoft doesn't really have to create
anything to compete with those Android phones (in fact, here's a
more recent example). They just have to continue
collecting royalties. If that's their true business plan, I think it's a good
one! Why? You can just sit back and watch the cash money rolling in with
relatively little effort. Fortunately, they do have something to compete with
Android: Windows Phone,
which also includes a Zune interface. Now, speaking of Microsoft, I'd like to
share with you a couple of videos.
Here is a mash-up of CES keynote addresses
from over the years, as this year's keynote address will be the last one the
company's CEO will be giving. It began with Bill Gates and ended with Steve
Ballmer:
I quite enjoy the countless interesting sweaters. Once you're finished watching
the above video, I have one more video to show you...
As I watched the above video, it reminded me of this video, when Kevin Rose was still on traditional
television working for G4 and hosting Attack of the Show:
A bigger controller has since been
created as of this year..
Now... watch that big controller, as well as the world's smallest, in action...
Moving on, the
next company I would like to discuss is
Blockbuster L.L.C., a wholly-owned subsidiary of
Dish Network Corp. The reason I bring up the
company now, even though they didn't purchase Blockbuster Inc.'s Canadian
assets, is because Dish last month announced that
it would close additional Blockbuster stores in the United States. Then,
they clarified themselves by saying that they'd
close 500 stores within the United States, accounting for about one-third of
the company's existing stores within the United States. This would leave them
with about 1,000 Blockbuster stores remaining within the United States. This is
in sad contrast to the news release that was
issued back in July by Blockbuster L.L.C. Although I am sad, this won't
actually affect me at all. But on the bright side, the amount of remaining
stores is still higher than the number of stores
Blockbuster Canada Co. ever had. I imagine that in a few short years,
Blockbuster will become an online-only service offering by-mail subscriptions,
digital movie downloads, and streaming. But speaking of
Blockbuster (before
they were purchased by Dish) and
Microsoft, those two companies were apparently involved in anti-competitive
practices. If that's true, they're obviously pretty cool companies. Sadly, I
have yet to get over the fact that Blockbuster Canada Co. is indeed gone.
For kicks, why not read up on the
contributing factors to the demise of Blockbuster Canada Co. that were
beyond their control? I am still not over the demise of Blockbuster Canada Co.
At this time, I am an active subscriber of Zip.ca,
but have recently suspended my account in order to try out
DVDFlix.ca, as Zip.ca has many customers
and getting new releases as soon as possible is essentially impossible.
I am trying out DVDFlix.ca for the next month, and will make a final decision on
which website to continue doing business with by March 26, 2012. Right now, I am
impressed by DVDFlix.ca's turnaround and selection, and the Zip.ca account will
likely be cancelled. For an overview of how both services work, click
here and
here. Plus, DVDFlix.ca
includes Blu-ray discs at no extra charge!
Something that I've neglected to mention in 2011 that may or may not have
affected me personally is the
passing of Lisa Rendall in 2011.
Lisa is a former radio personality (C95) that lived with Stage 4 metastatic
breast cancer for over ten years and worked tirelessly to raise money for breast cancer
research. Although I had never met her, nor did I know her personally, I did cry
a little when she did die, and I must say that her loss was a major loss for
Saskatoon in 2011, and I regret not mentioning her passing on my
last mega-blog-update. Although she is gone, I am glad that there will be a
public park named after her. In addition to the park being named after her, CTV
Saskatoon named her
Citizen of the Year in 2010.
The next topic I'd like to discuss is the reliability of
Saskatoon Transit. For most people in Saskatoon, they've probably boarded a
Saskatoon Transit bus at least once in their life. For almost 20 consecutive
years, transit ridership in Saskatoon decreased steadily up until 2006, when
Saskatoon Transit Services was revamped along with all new bus routes. The
re-launched service included all-new bus routes,
new bus stop signs, a
new logo, some new buses, and dramatically-improved service. Although the
service as a whole was improved, for the most part, there is something they
dropped the ball on: arriving on-time. Prior to 2006, most people didn't have to
worry about buses arriving late, as it didn't happen very often. But after 2006,
a lot of transit operators were somehow under the impression that people didn't
need to transfer between bus routes anymore, and this often led to buses
arriving at their destinations... late. For the most part, service has increased
and improved. In the past, I would rely on
route 50 (Pacific Heights) to get me
to the Shoppers Drug Mart store located at 2410 22nd Street West from the Place
Riel Transit Hub at the University of Saskatchewan. I would then check my
PO
box, before relying on
route 2 (8th Street) to get me home. When the first bus
route arrived consistently late on numerous occasions within the first few weeks
of the 2010-2011 school year, I wrote an "angry" letter to Saskatoon Transit,
which usually resulted in lame responses. I received one dated September 22,
2010. To see that one,
click here. In December 2010, a transit operator drove past me without
even stopping. That incident prompted another angry letter, resulting in a
more appropriate response. If you take out the word "expressing" in the last
paragraph of the second response, the letter would be an excellent one. Anyway,
the second term of the 2010-2011 school year was a good one. School was good,
and so was the transit service. In fact, throughout the entire semester, there
was not a single occasion in which I was late, despite the fact that there were
numerous occasions of inclement weather. I was so happy with the service that I
wrote a letter to Saskatoon Transit congratulating them, as well as a
letter to the editor of The
StarPhoenix. Towards the end of that opinion piece, you may have
noticed that I said "Hopefully, this consistent service continues."
Unfortunately, that consistent service did not continue. In the summer
of 2011, Saskatoon Transit introduced a series of "service improvements." One of
the "improvements" involved adding five minutes of scheduled time between the
downtown transit terminal and the Confederation Terminal. For example, if route
50 were to leave the downtown transit terminal at 2:31 pm, they would be
expected to depart the Confederation Terminal at 2:46 pm. With the service
"improvements," the 2:46 pm was changed to 2:50 pm to give transit operators
some breathing room. This means that if they were late dropping me off by the
Shoppers Drug Mart store located at 2410 22nd Street West, they would still
arrive on time at the Confederation Terminal, thus removing any reason for me to
complain about the service.
The next thing I'd like to discuss is the state of emergency declared by the
Attawapiskat First Nation. I do
understand that the living conditions on the reserve are dire and deplorable,
but I do support the Government of Canada's
decision to appoint a third-party manager for the reserve's finances. Up until
recently, I had no opinion on that matter. But when I found out that the
third-party manager was kicked out because it was alleged that Chief Theresa
Spence's
boyfriend would lose his job as financial co-manager, I began to believe
that it was an absolute disgrace that the reserve kicked out the third-party
manager. That's a shame. While we're at it,
John Duncan should really be replaced as
the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development. I love the
Conservative government more than
anyone else that I know, but I do not believe that Mr. Duncan is a suitable
minister for his department.
On January 29, 2012, Mohammad Shafia, his wife Tooba Mohammad Yahya and his son
Hamed were found guilty on charges of four counts of first degree murder and
conspiracy to commit murder in the deaths of Shafia sisters Zainab, Sahar and
Geeti, as well as Mohammad Shafia's first wife, Rona Amir Mohammed. This was
considered to be the first time in Canadian history in which someone was found
guilty of "honour killings," in which women are murdered by their own families
if it is considered that they have brought dishonour upon their own family, or
in some cases, their community. Honour killings are terrible, and shouldn't
happen, and I'm sure most people will agree with me, unless you're as sick and
twisted as those who believe in the idea of "honour killings." For some general
information on the trial, please
click here.
I believe the guilty verdict sends the right message towards those who the
support "honour killings." However, this situation reminds me of
Justin Trudeau, who
was upset because he believed that the Conservative government's use of the
term "barbaric" was inappropriate in describing "honour killings" in an updated
study guide for those who would like to become Canadians. He later apologized,
but that now means nothing. Then, he of course called the Honourable Peter Kent, Minister
of the Environment, a "piece
of shit." Then, he recently suggested that he would help Québec
separate from Canada if Prime Minister
Stephen Harper's vision "gets his way" in his odd little mind. Mr. Trudeau
is odd and in some cases, an absolute disgrace. However, I don't know if he's as
"odd" as
his dad.
The next thing I'd like to discuss is the pending relocation of the
Mendel Art Gallery on Spadina Crescent here
in Saskatoon. Over the years, many wedding pictures have been taken in the
conservatory within the building, and for many years, the gallery's board had
been seeking funding for an expansion and/or renovation to the building to house
more work to no avail. Then, one day, city council decided that it would be a
good idea to relocate the entire gallery by moving it to the new
River Landing development. The new art
gallery would be much bigger and would be called the
Remai Art Gallery of Saskatchewan
(formerly known as the Art Gallery of Saskatchewan). Ground-breaking is scheduled
for early 2013, with the opening of the new art gallery scheduled for late 2014
or early 2015. According to one poll, 60% of Saskatoon's residents believe the
idea of
relocating the existing gallery is a good one. Another poll indicates that
the city is
almost equally split. This has prompted former Saskatoon mayor Henry Dayday
to call on city council to
hold a plebiscite on the new gallery. However, it's important to note that
the results of a plebiscite are not binding (unlike a referendum, like the one
forced on the potential construction of a casino in downtown Saskatoon in 2003),
thus making it pointless. Mr. Dayday has since been
rebuffed by city council. In fact, if Mr. Dayday would like to see a
plebiscite on the issue, I think he should gather the required signatures to
force one (all
he needs is 15% of the voting public to sign a petition, according to
this document from the Government of
Saskatchewan). At first, I was opposed to
the idea of relocating the gallery (because of the price tag), but I have since
warmed up to it, since there's nothing we can really do about it anymore.
Besides, is making decisions based on public opinion a good way of governing? It
probably isn't, as the public changes their mind the same way George
Steinbrenner used to apparently
fire people like it was a bodily function. It's a shame Mr. Steinbrenner is
no longer with us. I particularly enjoyed the
mock version of him on
Seinfeld... and I'm sure everyone
does.
In my last extremely-long-but-immaculately-coded blog update,
I mentioned that I didn't have much luck in the dating world. Back then, I
said the following: "Despite saying that dating is indeed for suckers, I have
been more open to dating in recent months, but not enough to actually to date
anyone at the moment." My position has since changed. That is all I have to say
on the matter. Thank you for your concerns. However, some of you may be
interested to know that I have been encouraged to ask a few people out because
they drive a Toyota. As far as the people who have been encouraging me to do so
are concerned, these women who drive Toyotas are respectively the "woman of my
dreams."
On American television, I've been seeing a lot of television ads for
Jack in the Box. The food on the
commercials look great, and I wouldn't mind eating at one of their restaurants,
given the opportunity. As such, I recently decided to write to them. To see the letter that I've written to them, please
click here.
Their
bacon milkshake also appeals to me (I'd buy one just to say that I did,
given the opportunity). To see their lame response,
click
here.
On March 3, 2012, one of my closest friends and fellow site member
David Couchman,
announced that
he would stop contributing to this website, effective March 13, 2012. Mr.
Couchman will be moving to the city of Toronto on March 14, 2012, leaving
Calgary behind. I would like to wish him luck in all of his future endeavours as
he will be stuck in the "awful" city of Toronto. The only cool thing about that
city is the mayor, Rob Ford.
The next thing I would like to discuss is the "robo-call" controversy. Well,
there's not much I'd like to say, except for that I believe the
Conservative Party of Canada has
nothing to do with the alleged voter suppression and they indeed ran a clean,
ethical campaign. In addition to that, Pat
Martin has been really, really annoying (more annoying than usual), and I'm
glad RackNine Inc. is finally
suing him (and the NDP) for defamation. Does this mean we'll stop hearing
his voice for a while? I hope so, since I'm tired of hearing his voice almost
daily on the news and during question period. Despite being sued, Mr. Martin is
still annoying. At this time, I'm hoping this little 'scandal' doesn't
affect the party's electoral chances in 2015, when Canadians vote in the 42nd general
election. However, as long as Stephen Harper is still the Conservative Party of
Canada's leader, the party will get re-elected. Why not
help them today?
I just did. Plus, I may agree with
Saskatoon-Wanuskewin MP Maurice Vellacott that it's
the fault of Elections Canada.
Earlier this year, I signed up for Pinterest,
not knowing what it was. I first read about the new social networking website
when Blockbuster
posted about it on their blog and promoted
their own account. I then
requested an invite, and eventually joined the site. At first, I did not
understand the concept of the website, but read enough to understand it now. It
just hasn't caught on with me yet. Similarly, it
Google+ hasn't caught on with me, and this
is coming from someone who lovesGoogle.
Anyway, I highly encourage you to follow me on
Google+ and Pinterest, as
well as Twitter.
On the morning of March 1, 2012, conservative pundit/activist/blogger Andrew
Breitbart
passed away from natural causes (there were reports that he had heart
problems). I would like to extend my condolences to his family, and he will be
missed. It's a shame, especially since Mr. Breitbart was only 43.
Since we're still on the topic of Americans, I would like to share a photo with
the general public. Here in Saskatoon, if you are a
Shaw customer and subscribe to their digital
cable service, channel 85 is currently an NBC
affiliate named KHQ based in Spokane,
Washington. Similarly, channel 84 is Spokane-based
FOX affiliate KAYU and channel 87
is Spokane-based CBS affiliate
KREM. Anyway, to get the point,
Steve Hiscock
from Saskatoon was watching KHQ and noticed something peculiar. Thankfully, he
took a picture of it and shared it on Facebook. Mr. Hiscock's photo proves how
lame/arrogant/ignorant Americans can be. Check out the photo below:
To view the original photo, click on the above image.
It's sad that someone can't spell the name of our awesome province.
"Sasquatectwan?" Really? I also don't understand what "Northest" is either. I'd
like to thank Mr. Hiscock for bringing this to everyone's attention, especially
since I only ever watch KREM and KAYU, as NBC has nothing good to watch on
television (I used to watch The
Office, but officially quit last year). Whoever was responsible for
creating the caption(s) in the above image should be given whichever lesson(s)
is necessary to correct his/her obvious errors, similar to the obvious
grammatical error in this sentence (and possibly many others within this blog
update alone).
Back in December, I mentioned that I bought an
Android tablet computer on Boxing Day. The tablet computer I bought was the
Lenovo IdeaPad K1
from Future Shop. I love the tablet
computer, a lot. Besides from being really cool, a tablet computer does
come with many benefits, which allow me to be "productive" while being lazy. I
often leave my tablet computer on my nightstand. When I go to sleep in the wee
hours of the morning (I don't wake up for school until 8:30 am or so), I first
go to bed. Then, I often start to think of nonsensical schemes or I come up with
ideas that won't make sense to the average person. If that were to happen, I
would jot down my ideas with the tablet and either email myself those ideas, or
store them on Google
Docs (of course, there is
an app for that purpose). I'm also signed up for a lot of different survey
panels, and sometimes don't have time to go
through the surveys during the
course of the day. So, all of those emails piling up go unchecked for most of
the day. But when I'm about to sleep, I go through those emails and take those
surveys, from the comfort of my own bed. So far, those are the benefits of
having a tablet computer before going to sleep. When I wake up, the benefits are
also great. In the past, before I had a tablet computer, the first thing I would
do is check my cellular telephone for emails and new text messages when I wake
up in the wee hours of 8:30 am. Text messages, are usually unimportant, and
random, but the emails are important to me... I just don't like reading through
emails on my phone, and would often wait to turn on the computer after I brush
my teeth and shower. Sure, I have a decent desktop computer, but waiting for
Windows 7
to load is still not as quick as waiting for my tablet to load up once I turn it
on... and the phone is already on, I just don't like reading emails on it. Sure,
I use email on an
IMAP
protocol so that any changes I make on my phone are synced with Google's
servers, and will appear the same way once I use the computer (either through an
email client of my choice or through Gmail's
webmail interface), or when I load up my tablet. Of course, after checking my
email, I often go on Facebook to see if
anything new has occurred since the night before. As for my email addresses,
most of them are on IMAP servers... so the server is different, based on which
email address I'm checking. If you are a student at the University of
Saskatchewan student, our school, and most schools, use IMAP, and works similar
to Gmail, if you are using IMAP as well. So, that was my mundane life before
getting a tablet computer. Now, my tablet computer allows me to be even lazier
than I already was prior to getting a tablet. Now, today, in a tablet world,
when I wake up, I reach for my tablet computer. Sure, I do a lot of the same
things on my phone as I would on my tablet, but my phone has one capability that
has proven to be troublesome over the years: text messaging. In the past, I have
been known to have text message conversations with people into the wee hours of
the night, despite having an 8:30 am class the next day. As such, in late 2008,
I decided to charge my phone in an area away from my bed to prevent further
distractions from sleeping, as you should by now how lazy I am (if I have to get
up to do something, I probably won't be doing it). So, today, in a tablet-using
world, the first thing I do when I wake up is reach for my tablet, turn it on
and check my email. Once I've done that, I check Facebook for any
notifications... and before I get out of bed, I already have a general idea of
what went on overnight. So, you may be wondering how this is productive. It is,
somewhat. As much as I enjoy surfing the Internet from the comfort of my bed, I
still prefer to be sitting at a computer when I read the news online, or when
I'm responding to emails and/or nonsensical comments on Facebook. Sure, laptops
may be convenient, but they still load like desktop computers usually do.
Although there are many ways to communicate with others, the one method I like
the least is text messaging. Having a tablet, however, is greatly beneficial, as
it essentially helps me catch up with the rest of the day, or get a head start
to any day before actually getting out of bed, depending on the situation.
However, helping me be even lazier than I already was... may not be a good
thing. Sure, my reasons are weird, but there are indeed many good reasons to use
a tablet computer of any sort. Although tablets have been around for many years,
they've only become popular in recent years because of the lame iPad. Despite
technological advances, I am still a "techno-phobe." I didn't get my first
smartphone until 2010 and I'm glad I waited until 2011 to finally buy a tablet
computer. Although I appreciate technology, there are some things I can manage
to delay.
For the last couple of years, I have been ridiculed/mocked/criticized by people
that think highly of themselves, including members within my own family, based
on my decision to change my major at the
University of Saskatchewan from computer
science to
political studies. When I started my studies at the school in 2008, I was
excited and highly enthusiastic about my programming choice. At the time, I had
been out of high school for a period of time. Over time, my interest in the area
faded and my interest in politics increased to an extent where I spend almost
every waking moment of the day following up on politics here in Canada, the
United States, the United Kingdom and Australia (to a lesser extent).
Eventually, it made sense for me to pursue a degree in political studies, rather
than one in computer science. When I was still a computer science student, I was
unhappy with my life and waking up to go to school was a struggle (and not
because of 8:30 am classes). As a political studies student, I now have a sense
of belonging and waking up to go to school (regardless of time) is a pleasure,
regardless of how early. However, it doesn't hurt that I don't have to wake up
early. By the time most elementary or high school students are ready to head to
school, or are already at school, I'm only waking up to get ready for school. By
the time they finish school, with the exception of Thursday afternoons, I am
already almost home. During my time as a computer science student, I often found
myself talking about politics in Canada with my closest friends and some family
members. With my close friends, we often discussed federal politics. With my
family members from Calgary, I often discussed local politics in Saskatoon. This
eventually prompted a few people to ask me if I had considered studying
political science or political studies, including my own cousin Jeannette and
one of my friends from high school, Jennifer (this had been going for nearly a
year). In fact, one person even said "You should go into political studies."
With those types of questions and/or comments in mind, I thought about
potentially switching majors, or technically, declaring a major, since my major
was still undeclared at the time. After a period of time, I officially decided
to declare my major on June 16, 2010. I subsequently
announced my
intentions on Facebook, and nobody really seemed surprised (some were
actually expecting it). Here is a screenshot of the status update:
Since becoming a political studies student, others have encouraged me to try to
get into the field of law, in which I would become a lawyer. I have put this
under consideration for the last 18 months or so, and decided last month that I
will attempt to write the
Law School Admission
Test (LSAT), as I have nothing to lose, except for the fee that I must pay
to write the exam. Hopefully, my score will be good enough for a law school to
accept someone such as myself. This is wishful thinking, as the admission
standards are quite high. If I were given a choice in which school I could
attend, I would pick the University of Ottawa.
Recently, Microsoft Corp.'s visionary
Ray Ozzie, who took over from Bill Gates, said that we are
now in a post-PC world, after saying that we were
quickly approaching one in October 2010. Do you agree with him? He talks
about cloud technology, which is technology that I'm only getting used to as of
2011. I certainly agree with Mr. Ozzie that we are in a post-PC world, but it
sure doesn't seem like it... yet. Although I do use a
tablet, I still find that using a PC suits all of my needs... right now
anyways.
Moving on...
Some of you may have seen this "documentary" posted on
Vimeo and YouTube titled "Kony 2012:"
The video is a documentary created by an organization called
Invisible Children that aims
to raise awareness of a guy named Joseph Kony, who kidnaps children and
turns them into child soldiers, and has somehow become "viral." The video
comes with celebrity endorsements. The aim was to apparently make him
"famous" so that he can be arrested. Although it is commendable to raise
awareness, there has been some criticism of the video, as well as people
questioning the group's spending habits, as a lot of money has apparently
been spent on filming and travel, rather than actual charity work. Now,
there are major groups of people who are rallying to "raise awareness" of
this guy, and I find that... pointless. In fact, there's an event planned
for Saskatoon on April 20, 2012 where a bunch of people plan to "cover the
night." For more information, consult this
lame Facebook
event page. What's funny is that it's planned for April 20, 2012, which
I will never fully understand, as I don't smoke marijuana. At the end of the
video, you are 'encouraged' to buy an "action kit," whatever that may be.
So... is it safe to assume that Saskatoon's streets will be littered with
lame posters/kits after 4:00 am on April 21, 2012? It probably is. The only
thing the video has going for itself is that I saw a picture of
Prime Minister Stephen Harper in it.
Anyway... like most people who say that the above video has compelled them
to take some sort of imaginary action, I plan to do... nothing.
Anyway, before I officially end my rants and start talking about my life in
great detail, I must note that I've watched a lot of movies in
recent months, beginning with the time period that succeeded the closure of
Blockbuster Canada Co.'s remaining 253 stores after 146 stores closed in
June. Now, I don't remember the complete list of movies, but here are some
that I've enjoyed in recent months, in no particular order (these include
movies I bought at $1.00 each, as well as movies from
Zip.ca and DVDFlix.ca
that are fairly new):
For the movies listed above, I actually enjoyed them for various reasons
(nice-looking people, the movies were hilarious, riveting, etcetera). Now,
for the movies listed below, they are pretty cheesy and/or dreadful, but yet
funny to watch because of how cheesy they are:
Priest The cover looked really cheesy, so I decided to watch it. I
couldn't get past the first ten minutes, and I have no idea what the movie's
plot was about.
Cross
Any movie with Michael Clarke Duncan in it is worth watching, no matter
how cheesy.
As for movies that I suggest you never watch, this would be it: TRON:
Legacy. I couldn't get past the first five minutes of the movie!
When Blockbuster Canada Co.'s stores were still open, I was often able to
catch up with new releases when they were on video (DVD or Blu-ray) within a
week of their release date. Now, without any stores near my home, as
Rogers Plus closed
most of their Saskatoon locations, I have no place to rent physical
discs, with the exception of those
DVDPlay kiosks with limited selections. Sure, I could download movies on
the Internet for free, but I miss that
going-to-the-video-store-to-rent-a-movie experience. Plus, physical disc
rentals often come with deleted scenes that I enjoy watching. As I said
earlier, I recently suspended my Zip.ca
account and am currently trying out
DVDFlix.ca's mail service. The reason I'm trying out DVDFlix.ca is
because I was dissatisfied with Zip.ca's service. Although I am satisfied
with DVDFlix.ca, there is one downside that they can't do anything about:
delivery times. Unless I live in Vancouver, I will have to wait four
business days in order to receive a disc that they mail me. But on the
bright side, they have mailed me most new release movies on rental list,
unlike Zip.ca. I just wish DVDFlix.ca would adopt a feature similar to
Zip.ca's ZipRefill feature, in which they will send you a movie when you
report that you have returned a movie to them in the mail. Also, DVDFlix.ca
would stand to benefit greatly from a website makeover, as their website is
really "old school." For starters, my biggest complaint is that I have to
log-in every time I return to the website, unlike Zip.ca. Secondly, Zip.ca
makes it much easier to move things around on your "ZipList," while
reorganizing your movie preferences on your rental list is a huge hassle.
For example, if you had 125 movies listed on your ZipList over at Zip.ca
listed in the order you'd like to receive them based on numbers, and you
wanted to move your 125th movie to the #2 slot, you would simply click on
the number field next to the title of the movie, then replace "125" with
"2." With DVDFlix.ca, you would have to click on "top" next to the title of
the movie, which will move it to the top slot. Then, you would have to click
on "down" until the movie reaches a position of your choice. So,
functionality-wise, Zip.ca is the best. However, when it comes to being able
to follow your rental list more closely, DVDFlix.ca wins, hands down.
Anyway, when it comes to both websites, both have website have yet to send
me a copy of the following movie:
Our Idiot Brother. If DVDFlix.ca does not send me a copy of Our
Idiot Brother soon, I may have to resort to downloading it, like
everyone else. But now, here's a list of movies I'd like to see in the
coming weeks (it's just a short list):
Anyway, that's the end of my rants... now it's time to talk about my life in
great detail.
Now that I'm done complaining about society and a lot of other things, it's time
to talk about my boring life in as much detail as excruciatingly possible. When
I last made any sort of blog update, that update was made one minute before the
start of 2012. Since that time, things have been gradually improving in my life.
When 2012 first started, I was excited that 2011 had finally come to an
end. However, everything was still in a negative light for me at the beginning
of the year. As time progressed, so did my attitude towards life, with January
being an excellent month for me.
The month of January worked out very well for me, and I'll tell you all about it
in the coming paragraphs.
January 2012
As I said before, the month started off on a negative note, but things gradually
improved and began looking up. For starters, I received excellent news,
health-wise. I also turned 23 years old (my supervisor at work was nice enough
to warn me to stay out of jail), and went out on a date for the first
time in months, which was nice. We began a new semester at the
University of Saskatchewan for the 2011-2012
school year... and best of all, I was able to reconnect with a few old friends, who are all in my
POLS 262: Introduction to Global Governance class. Meanwhile, my "POLS
306.3: Local Government" professor, however, forgot to come to class and had
to
send out an email that contained an apology. David Couchman also
turned 24 years old, and had a job interview that changed his life. And by the
end of the month, I finally met my friend Carmen's boyfriend Richard for the
first time (a demand that I gave a 35-year deadline to). However, the highlight
of January was the excellent news, health-wise, as well as the excellent first
date with someone named Bonnie. Now, to further explain things that occurred in
my life throughout January, I'd like to share with you a series of photos...
And on another note, after spending a night at a woman's house, one of my
friends somehow ended up in his car, according to a series of text messages he
sent me:
I apologize if you were expecting more detailed information, but it has been a
while since I last made a blog update, and no longer remember the entire month
of January in detail. However, the links to pictures that I'm about to share
with you below should provide more insight into my crazy "adventures."
Anyway, in January, I captured a series of "interesting" photos. Here's a list
of my favourites, in no particular order:
At least two traffic signals on
the same post were
replaced at the intersection of 22nd Street and Idylwyld Drive (this
intersection splits into east, west, south and north, and is one of
Saskatoon's most important intersections). The previous
Econolite signal on the
same post lasted for less than two weeks.
My friend Kojo told me about a Chinese restaurant near his home that
couldn't make up its mind on whether it was famous for its spring rolls or
cold rolls. I drove by the restaurant to
verify his claims.
As it turns out, the restaurant is owned by my friend Ryan's parents. You
should drop by sometime. The restaurant is called Asiana Wok and it is
located at
#6-270 Acadia Drive in Saskatoon.
Tim Hortons, that overrated coffee chain, announced
new cup sizes for its Canadian locations. All cup sizes are now bigger
and the former "small" now becoming "extra small." The new cup sizes make
their selection the same as the selection of their American locations, with
the exception of the "extra small" cup, which isn't offered in the United
States.
A crazy man attempted to pay for $476 worth of merchandise at a Walmart
store
with a "$1 million" bill.
The Honourable Peter MacKay, the Minister of Defence for the Government
of Canada,
got married in Mexico.
After having sex on-duty, a member of the Saskatoon Police Service has
been demoted.
NDP MP Lise St-Denis
crossed the floor and is now part of the Liberal Party of Canada.
DISH Network Corp., the owner of Blockbuster L.L.C., announced that it
would
close additional stores. That number was eventually revealed to be
about 500, leaving the company with 1,000 stores remaining. That
number is still higher than the number of stores Blockbuster Canada Co. ever
had in Canada.
A delay in sales of the iPhone 4S in China managed to
create an uproar. Sad...
An issue regarding same-sex marriage in Canada turned out to be...
nothing.
Eric Bolling from FOX News test
drove a lame Chevrolet Volt and had nothing nice to say about it... and this
video makes me wonder why anyone would buy a
Chevrolet Volt:
February 2012
Now, let's move onto
February. During the month of February, I took a series of nonsensical
Flickr
pictures. Here are some of them that I thought I should actually share with
a specific small group of people who actually read this blog:
A man that hangs out at my school was caught in a different pose.
For the last couple of years, I've been wondering if this
pizza joint on 22nd
Street West called Fresh Real Pizza were any good. So, in 2011, I bought
a
MySaskDeals voucher that would get me a large pizza and pop for $9.00.
So, on February 21, 2012, I redeemed that voucher for a pizza and pop. While
travelling to my uncle's home on the mean streets of Stonebridge, where he
lives, I drank the pop. However, prior to the trip to his home, I somehow
dropped the box on its top side, thus making the pizza look
less
appetizing. Meanwhile, here's a preview of what the place looked like,
inside.
I got
money
back from the University of Saskatchewan. The truth is that I overpaid
them by paying my tuition and school fees before a scholarship was processed
to my student account.
I went on an "adventure/misadventure"
with my friend Ryan on February 19,
2012, in which we drove around Saskatoon taking many pictures of traffic
signals, as well as other strange photos, such
as this sign and the
former Bethany Home. Speaking of Ryan, here is a video he made
containing pictures that I've taken:
At the CIBC branch located at 3124
8th Street East here in Saskatoon, there is one man who looks like Dwight
Schrute from The Office.
In terms of news, not a whole lot has happened... or is that a lie? I'll let you
be the judge of that. But here are some news stories I found interesting, in no
particular order:
Target announced that its Canadian
stores will have Starbucks stores
within them. This means that by the time the Target store opens at
The Centre Mall, there will be
at least three locations. Right now, there are two: one in the
Indigo bookstore and one in the
Safeway store at the mall.
Taylor Swift showed the world
how sweet and classy she can be by asking an 18-year-old boy with cancer
to be her date after she couldn't make it to his prom. I look forward to
hearing her new album once it hits store shelves.
A Washington, D.C. man's "NO TAG" licence plate has gotten him into
trouble many times. He still
won't get rid of the licence plate. I admire his dedication and
clothing.
But more importantly, Adele announced
that she would
take a five-year break, thus saving the world from her repetitive music
for five years or longer. I'm totally excited!
Now that I'm done discussing weird news that occurred in February, I guess
it's time I talk about my own life in detail. However, since I don't remember
every aspect, I will tell you about what I do remember. The month started out
like any other month... boring. However, the day before, on January 30, 2012, I
met a nice guy named Richard, who is dating my friend Carmen, who is my friend
Jennifer's roommate. I also joined Pinterest...
so follow me. Eventually, this
video became popular in Saskatchewan:
However,
on Saturday, February 4, 2012, I was "out and about" and someone unknown sent me
a text message, asking if I would come visit them that day. As it turns out, it
was Tammy Poorman, who got her own cellular phone after sharing the same phone
with her boyfriend for years. Here's how it went down:
The misunderstanding was cleared up when we had lunch together at
TacoTime, next door to her
new workplace.
Not long after, this blooper from Global Saskatoon became popular for a while:
The above video, then reminded me of an interesting blooper caught on live
television from about six years ago:
On February 6, 2012, I left my home early because I was bored and headed to
school. So, I was waiting for a
Saskatoon Transit to arrive at 9:37 am. But when the bus arrived, it didn't
stop. Why? It's because I wasn't standing at a bus stop. I was actually standing
at a sign that said parking was not allowed because there was a wheelchair ramp
leading to the house from the sidewalk. So, instead of heading to school early,
I had to cross the street and board a bus that arrived at 9:51 am instead.
Surprisingly, both buses arrived on time.
On February 9, 2012, I wrote the first of three midterms. On February 10, 2012,
my class on local government was deserted, leading to the ridicule of absent
students from the professor of the class. I also learned that there is
apparently a Japanese tea
party movement. I was soon reacquainted with this old video:
Today, I wonder what Bubb Rubb is
up to. Although I like the idea of "whistle tips," I would never have one
installed on any Toyota I may drive in the
future, or my current Toyota for that matter.
On February 11, 2008, I began my current job. As of February 11, 2012, I have
worked for the same company for four years. At some point, I started to miss
George W. Bush for unknown reasons, which reminded me of this awesome video:
As for Valentine's Day, I had no plans, as I have no girlfriend. But what's
important is that Adele announced that she
would
take a break from her career to focus on a relationship. I also spent part
of the evening at school, before. On February 17, 2012, my class on local
government was cancelled, and the professor was extra thankful when
reminding us via email. In
addition to that, it was the last day of classes before a one-week break from
school, known as "Reading Week" to university students, I wrote a midterm exam
before going home. I thought about going to my
POLS 249 class, but this
announcement made me decide not to go to class.
On February 18, 2012, I realized that I still had
3.5" floppy discs. What's even funnier is that some stores
still sell the readers for them. What's even worse is that I still have a
floppy disc reader as well! The lame part is that it hasn't been used since I
stopped using
Windows
XP, which was in the fall of 2009, when I
installed Windows 7 on computer.
On February 19, 2012, I spent part of the day hanging out with my friend
Ryan Harder. We drove around
Saskatoon taking pictures of traffic signals, as well as a few other nonsensical
things, including a picture of this sign:
We travelled extensively around Saskatoon. We began the journey in the Arbor
Creek area before heading to the north-end of Saskatoon, Montgomery Place,
A1 Tire & Wheel (as pictured
above), the
former Bethany Home location, the site of a
tragic accident in Stonebridge and the
Shoppers Drug Mart store in
Saskatoon that still
closely resembles an old Pinder's Drugs store (Broadway Avenue and Taylor
Street East). For those of you who don't know, Pinder's Drugs was a chain of
drug stores in Saskatoon (and some other cities, potentially). In 1992, 20 years
ago, the stores were sold to Shoppers Drug Mart as part of their quick expansion
in Western Canada. There are other chains that also disappeared during Shoppers
Drug Mart's Western expansion, but none of them come to mind.
February 20, 2012 was Family Day. On that day, a somewhat-depressing episode of
my favourite show, How I Met Your Mother,
was aired. However, the episode's storyline was so intriguing that I watched it
several times. However, I couldn't watch it at 7:00 pm like I usually do, so I
had to wait until 10:00 pm, thanks to a combination of two things:
CRTC rules regarding
simultaneous
substitution and Citytv and
SCN. Currently, under CRTC regulations, any
Canadian channel airing the same program as a foreign entity (usually American)
at the same time has their feed replace the feed of that foreign channel. This
occurs, regardless of whether or not the Canadian feed is airing the same
episode of any given show. For example, if
Global Saskatoon and
FOX WUHF in Rochester, New York
(this channel is available on Shaw's channel 24) air The Simpsons at 7:00 pm on a
Sunday night with a slight difference (Global airs an old episode while FOX airs
an all-new episode), you would miss out on the all-new episode. That's
essentially what happened with How I Met
Your Mother. The all-new episode aired on the CBS affiliate in Detroit,
but it was at the same time as "Citytv
on SCN" block, and the "Citytv on SCN" block aired an older episode of the
same show. That really angered me, prompting me to urge myself to write a letter
to the CRTC. However, that has yet to happen.
On February 21, 2012, I filed my income tax return. While working with
TurboTax's online software, I was
originally told that my tax refund would be about $1,227.94. However, what was
stopping me was that the University of
Saskatchewan had yet to issue
T2202A tax forms, which
report your eligible tuition that could be claimed. On that day, the school
finally issued the certificates, allowing me to complete my tax return. Once I
reported the tuition amounts, as well as any carryover amounts, the refund
dropped dramatically to $277.13. As it turns out, once you report that you were
a student for more than 13 weeks out of a calendar year, you automatically lose
the Working Income
Tax Benefit, which is a refundable tax credit, as explained
here. On the bright side, I got $277.13 of my own 'cash money' back in my
weak, clammy hands. Prior to that, I had lunch with my friend Jennifer at
Fuddruckers. Later that day, I also
tried out Fresh Real Pizza, as explained earlier... I bought the pizza, but
didn't eat it.
On February 22, 2012, my evil cousins came over and stunk up my house, while
terrorizing it. Prior to that event, I test drove a
2012 Toyota Camry LE and
parked it on my driveway.
Some people are still under the impression that I bought a new car, since I did
not confirm or deny the fact. Also in the same day, I "demanded" that Tammy
Poorman come with me to XS Cargo so I
could buy a
walking stick for $4.77 (with
a coupon). Back then, I bought one due to the encouragement of those on
Facebook. Today, I question that purchase more than I did on that odd day. On
the bright side, I can say I drove in three different directions while
attempting to convince Tammy to come with me. In the end, I drove across town
just to buy a walking stick.
On February 23, 2012, I installed a new
wireless router in my home. The name I gave the Wi-Fi network is (it could have
been longer)...
The only weird part about the new router is that it sends out location data that
makes all GPS/Wi-Fi enabled devices that are being accessed within my home think
that they are in DeKalb, Illinois. The problem has since been fixed. It was,
however, fun to use the
Shell Motorist app and be told that my nearest Shell station was in DeKalb,
Illinois located at 175 West Lincoln Highway.
On February 25, 2012, Reverend Nathan brought something interesting to my
attention:
Yes, you can be taught how to use
Windows 95 (the system
requirements will make you laugh) by Chandler and Rachel... or Matthew Perry and
Jennifer Aniston. If you'd actually like to watch the guide, it's
available on YouTube.
There was supposedly going to be a snowstorm during the weekend of February 25,
2012... it never happened. As time progressed, the snowstorm warning was lifted.
At one point in time, I even saw my former co-workers Aaron and Angela
Arnault at Costco. What's cool about
that store, though, is that they got new automatic sliding doors from
Stanley Access Technologies,
replacing the old doors from Horton
Automatics.
February 27, 2012 was the first day of school after a one-week break, and I was
excited, especially with the return of the Shamrock Shake at
McDonald's. I then spent that day as well
as part of the next finishing an essay for my class on global governance (POLS
262). By 11:30 pm, I had printed off the essay and was ready to hand it in.
On February 28, 2012, in my class about Canadian public policy (POLS
226), we listened to former Saskatchewan premier Roy Romanow speak about
healthcare. Surprisingly, he was very outgoing. I also got some
free stuff in the form
of coupons... and when I thought that was the end of it, there were
more,
as well as some
cash
money from my school.
On February 29, 2012, out of boredom, I tried to purchase Gorgeouspil and
immortality rings through the website of Alex Chiu, at
www.alexchiu.com. If you don't remember
Alex Chiu, he made his first appearance on television on Unscrewed with
Martin Sargent, a show that was cancelled on November 11, 2004 that
aired on TechTV and subsequently G4techTV (before it returned to being just
G4). He then appeared on
Revision3 shows such as Infected by Martin Sargent,
Web Drifter and Internet Superstar.
Anyway, I "tried" to order a two-month supply of Gorgeouspil for $37.00 and
immortality rings for $28.30. The cost of shipping was $10.95... making it
expensive. On Mr. Chiu's website, he provides a link of videos of him ranging
from 2004 to 2009, showing that he looks younger over the years after using his
immortality rings and taking
Gorgeouspil.
His website claims that the immortality rings will allow you to live forever,
while Gorgeouspil balances out your body. If you're too fat, it'll help you lose
weight. If you're underweight, it will help you gain weight to make you
"normal." His website even indicates the following: "This pill was named
'Gorgeous Pill' because it turns a user prettier every time the pill was taken.
The user will gradually look PERFECT, even more gorgeous than super models. You
will one day reach PHYSICAL PERFECTION!!" In fact, the "healing enabled by
Gorgeouspil is so strong that it can change the shape of your bone WITHIN A FEW
DAYS. This is really the fastest healing ever made possible. Nothing in the
world can make your body heal this fast," according to
this page.
Then, there's
Super Chi Flush,
which claims to heal your body and stop the aging. This will likely make you
wonder why the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) hasn't approved such a
thing. On this
website, he indicates that: "I don't dare to apply any medical term nor any
medical claim on this invention. FDA will never grant me an approval because I
don't have 20 million dollars to spend on the FDA approval procedure. So I hope
you understand what I am trying to say here." So, when are you going to buy your
immortality rings and Gorgeouspil? What's funny is that while you're looking at
your shopping cart, there's a caption across the header of the page saying:
"ORDER ONLINE AND RECEIVE AN ADDITIONAL $5 DISCOUNT! Make sure to order for your
loved ones too. Don't you want your whole family to be immortal?" Don't believe
me? Here's a terrible screenshot:
To top off the insanity, here's a video provided by this
specific web page
that claims that a Dr. Robert Celente from Italy has nothing but good things to
say about Mr. Chiu's products:
Now... how funny is this?!
Well... that concludes the month of February, in terms of me talking about my
life in as much detail as possible.
March 2012
Now, it's time to move onto the current month of March. The beginning of
March started off with a busy day. On the bright side, I received my tax
refund of approximately $277.00. In addition to that, it was payday, and my
student loan disbursement was deposited into my bank account. Meanwhile, on
Friday, March 2, 2012, I noticed that I was the only Asian (and visible
minority) in my
POLS 249: Institutions and Processes of American Government class. I
also read this interesting article on
why spelling matters. I also read this interesting article on someone
from Saskatoon expressing interest to the NHL
about Saskatoon having its own NHL team that could be supported by the
entire province of Saskatchewan. Although it's wishful thinking, I think
it's a good idea.
On Saturday, March 3, 2012, I saw a former biology teacher of mine from the
days I attended Mount Royal Collegiate as a high school student. On March 4,
Sunday, my cousins came over and stunk up my house... and my cousins Ky, Tho
and Tony caused a bunch of trouble. At one point, Tho angered his younger
brother Tony enough to
provoke an attack. Tho decided to use my
tablet computer to record the supposed attack.
Last week, I read an article about how much better you'll feel if you sleep
in two separate
four-hour shifts. That's... interesting. And after watching an episode
of The Jerry Springer Show,
I decided that I may someday visit Stamford, Connecticut to attend a taping
of the show. Overnight on March 5, 2012 and into the morning of March 6,
Saskatoon received about 20 centimetres of snow overnight. I spent the day
at school before coming home to use my snow-blower. But for a lot of people,
they had to manually shovel their walkways. This became the focal point of a
nonsensical conversation with one of my friends. On March 5, I made a bet
with Larry Chen that the warning was a lie and that if the warning were
correct, I would owe him a penny. I... lost. So, on the morning of March 6,
2012, my friend, whose name shall remain a mystery, sent me the following
text message, which was followed by my mockery:
Following that revelation, I mocked her:
That's a good comeback, but workouts are overrated, as I stated, but then it
got personal, when she mocked me (and placed a greater emphasis on how
superior she thought her
Ford Escape was)...
and it's important to note that I mentioned the
Toyota Highlander Hybrid:
Then, she had an excellent rebuttal... or so it seemed:
But in the end, she admitted defeat (thankfully):
But in the end, we both agreed that any vehicle from GM is bad news:
During the glory days of TechTV and the bearable days of G4techTV, there was
once a show hosted by Martin Sargent called... Unscrewed with Martin Sargent.
On that show, there was often a segment called "Mysteries of Science Explained."
On Wednesday, I was reacquainted with that segment via a
YouTube video:
Wasn't that a funny video? Yeah... it was, and there is no denying it!
On Wednesday, March 7, 2012, I test drove a Jeep Patriot... for a $50 gas gift card. While I was at the dealership, the sales representative that "helped" me attacked all of their competitors, including their local fellow Chrysler dealerships. That right there is unprofessional. In fact, one salesman even referred to Hyundai as "crap." He's lucky he didn't refer to Toyota as "crap." If he did, he would have had another thing coming. I won't say which dealership it was... except for the fact that it is located on 8th Street East in Saskatoon. While waiting to test drive the Jeep that I decided to test drive for free gas money, I made "small-talk" with one employee at the dealership by stating that I had never been to that specific dealership before. His response was "This is an excellent dealership. In fact, it's the best." Then, I said that it felt a little bigger than Ens Lexus Toyota. His response was as follows: "Well, we sell more cars than they do." I then responded with a jab before he would have had a chance to respond: "I highly doubt that. They sell superior cars." Being there felt... wrong.
Thursday was another day of school, except that my
POLS 226: Canadian Public Policy class was cancelled for the day. This
allowed for an opportunity to hang out with Reverend Nathan, which is something
I haven't done in a long time. We eventually hung out in
Choices at St.
Thomas More College and looked an old deck of playing cards featuring
criminals that were featured on America's Most
Wanted. We then devised a card game and called it "The Greatest Game
Ever." It makes little sense, if any, to most people, so I won't try to explain
it. However, I did hang out at the
Shannon
Library for a few minutes, and I noticed that I was the only Asian in the
room. Eventually, I left to hang out with Nathan. I also got a picture of the "Airplane
Room," or Thorvaldson 271. After hanging out with Nathan, I performed some
required tasks (errands) and went home.
Friday was another typical day of school... except attendance was dramatically
down in all classes that I attended. Eventually, I "skipped" two lectures
because I was not feeling well. However, when I got home, I had to work, and it
was a somewhat-tough shift at work. But on the bright side, I got a bunch of
free Tim Hortons "Roll Up the Rim to
Win" contest cups.
Out of 28 free cups, only six cups were winning cups (five were for free
coffees/lattes while one was for a free donut). If you don't like drinking their
coffee, but would like a small chance to win something, you can consult
their
rules and regulations as to how you can obtain a free contest cup. In
simpler terms, here are some instructions...
Get an envelope and write your own mailing address on it.
Place a stamp on that envelope.
Place that self-addressed and stamped envelope into a bigger envelope
and seal it.
Mail the bigger envelope to one of the following addresses, depending on
which country you live in:
Tim Hortons Contest Cup
PO Box 9162 STN Main
Saint John, NB E2L 4Y2
Canada
Tim Hortons Contest Cup
PO Box 1315
Calais, ME 04619-6315
USA
Wait for your free contest cup in the mail. If you want another free
cup, repeat the process.
Yesterday, I started out my day
by going to the Ens
Collision Centre (part of Ens Lexus Toyota)
to make an appointment for a car repair, as I was involved in an accident in
January. In January, someone had backed into my 2001 Toyota Camry LE, creating a
slight crack on the body of the vehicle to the right of the grille. I will be
getting a new grille, as well as a new bumper, thanks to the individual's
insurance. In addition, I will also receive a courtesy rental car, which I hope
will be the 2012 Toyota Camry LE.
Should the car be a 2012 Toyota Camry of some sort, however, I plan to tell
people I bought a new car... until they call me out on it. It should be pretty
obvious, however, as previous rental cars I've obtained through that specific
body shop have typically been from Budget, which places a
large decal on the
bumpers of their rental cars, like they did with the 2010 Toyota Camry LE
that was loaned to me in 2009.
Unlike Budget, Hertz does not place
huge-and-obvious decals on the bumpers of their rental cars, or anywhere on
their cars for that matter. Take the 2010
Toyota Prius I rented in 2010 in Ottawa for example... do you see any decals identifying the car rental company? How about
on this 2011
Toyota Corolla?
After making an appointment, I headed to the
SARCAN depot on Broadway Avenue
simply because that location has automatic doors. After dropping off a bunch of
cans and bottles, I got a cool $39.35 in cold hard cash. My next stop was the
Market Mall, where I was
hoping to see my friend's mom so I can make fun of her for being at work.
Instead, she was not there... but I saw my friend Kojo, who was setting up
equipment for one or Rawlco Radio's radio
stations for their "live on location" event.
Eventually, I paid a visit to the Real
Canadian Superstore, like I usually do on Saturdays. I also went to
Canadian Tire to buy windshield washer
fluid before heading to Staples to buy
myself a new camera,
which I'll be returning soon, as I didn't really need a new one in the first place.
My Canon
PowerShot SD750 works just fine. The only reason I may have bought it in the
first place is because of its relatively-cheap price of $49.99. I eventually
went to Tim Hortons to get free coffee and a free donut from the many cups I
received in the mail
from the day before. I then went home and worked on this blog update before
working. Eventually, I slept at 11:45 pm, thus bringing my Saturday to an end.
While I was at Tim Hortons, however, I
saw my friend Andrew Pang.
As of this morning, I brought my mom to the
St.
Paul's Hospital because she had problems seeing. The doctor first told her
that she may have a
retinal
detachment, and referred us to a doctor at the Eye Care Centre over at
Saskatoon City Hospital, where a doctor confirmed that it was indeed a
retinal detachment, and told us to come back at 3:45 pm. We will find out what
is up at that time, and what treatment options will become available. This is a
little scary... and I don't know what to think or do.
Also, recently, on television, I saw this hilarious television commercial...
check it out:
The month isn't over yet, so I'll try to stay off the subject for a bit... but I
have taken some pictures this month. Here they are in no particular order:
The Tim Hortons restaurant/coffee shop on 8th Street East by Cumberland Avenue South is undergoing renovations. To accommodate
the "bum's rush," they have set up a
mobile
trailer for the drive-thru.
On March 6, 2012, a transit operator
abandoned his 2002 New Flyer
D40LF just before 8:45 am
to go
to McDonald's. He did not close any
of the doors on the bus.
Effective May 9, 2012, old Windows Mobile apps will
cease to exist.
As it turns out, someone who already had $1 million was still collecting
government assistance funds. Now that's living the high-life... I guess.
Well, that concludes my life up until now. Now, I can finish this blog update
by telling you what I'm looking forward to in the short-term.
For starters, I'd like to know when new episodes of Beavis and Butt-head
will begin airing again on MTV.
Anyway, moving on... on Wednesday, March 14, 2012,
David Couchman
will be moving to Toronto, Ontario, and will no longer be contributing to this
website. I will certainly miss visiting him in Calgary, as he moves to Toronto.
The likelihood of me visiting Toronto is lower, as I do not know anyone that
lives there. If he were living in Ottawa, however, that would be a different
story. Anyway, I would like to take this opportunity to wish him the best, as he
moves from a medium-sized city to the "big city." Good luck! I wish I
could say more, but I don't know what else I can say about this situation, as it
is a tough one for me. Although I am happy for Mr. Couchman, I am a little
saddened that he is moving across the country... almost.
As I type this, classes as the University of
Saskatchewan are coming to an end within four short weeks. Before we know
it, it will be time to write our final exams again. Although the current
semester hasn't been the best one, academic-wise, it has been an excellent one,
based on recent events in my life, and I'll be sad when the semester officially
comes to an end. Despite that, I guess I can say that I am looking forward to
four months of not going to class once again! Now... the following statement is
a note to myself: never take five political studies
classes in a single term again! Last term, I took five
political studies classes. As for this term, I'm taking... five political
studies classes. Don't get me wrong though... I love taking five political
studies classes in a single term... I just overlooked some elective requirements
and I will unfortunately have to spend the next two school years fulfilling
those elective requirements.
In the shorter term, I am looking forward to CBS
continuing to air new episodes of How I
Met Your Mother, which I've been hooked on since 2011. New episodes
will resume on March 19, 2012. In the last episode, Ted moved out of his
apartment and offered it to Marshall and Lily. Meanwhile, Barney looks like he
has successfully pursued Quinn, played by Becki Newton. As for Ted and Robin,
who are now homeless (I presume), we'll have to find out what happens to them.
Prior to Ted moving out, he told Robin that he loved her, and she told him she
didn't love him. Eventually, Robin moved out to Long Island with Marshall and
Lily, but decided to leave... and Ted, who felt the apartment was haunted by
Robin, moved out.
In recent weeks or months, you may or may not have noticed that
ownership of this website has changed. According to
this news release, I no longer own this website because of a nonsensical
transaction between myself and Larry Chen. Well, I can assure you that if any website changes occur, however, they will still be
based on my own decisions, as I have "veto power." In fact, you may be able to
expect another nonsensical transaction to occur between the both of us in the
near future. As for that penny, I have yet to spend it.
Anyway, provided that my personal circumstances are fine, I will be attending a
City Council meeting for the first time, ever, on March 26, 2012. I will
likely be accompanied by my traffic-signal-loving friend
Ryan Harder. In doing so
with him, I will help him achieve #66 of
his "bucket list" of goals for 2012. In addition, attending a city council
meeting will help me with my studies in my
class about local government.
On the
blog update that I made on December 30, 2011, I used the title "BREAKING
NEWS: Reverend Huy Dang Makes First Blog Update in Six Months and Hopes ALL RSS
Aggregators Crash Due to Length of Blog Update." Well, I did not succeed in
making all RSS aggregators crash, but a lot of them weren't able to pick up that
particular blog update at all. For example, the main page of this website was
able to pick up the title of that blog update...
Despite the success of the scripts on this website,
Google Reader wasn't very successful,
and here's some proof of that...
Hopefully, this specific blog update manages to screw
up Google Reader (as well as other RSS aggregators) as well.
Anyway, this officially concludes my very first blog update of 2012, posted on
March 11, 2012. At this time, my biggest worry is my mom and her retinal
detachment. I am hoping that surgery (or whichever treatment is necessary) will
indeed fix the issue, and I am quite hopeful that it will. I will post an update
on the matter in the near future.
Until next time, please remember: don't get ripped by the riptide! But more importantly, it has been one year since the devastating March 11, 2011 earthquake in Japan! Please take a moment to remember the victims of the tragedy.
Hello everyone! I understand that it has been almost two months since I've
made my last blog update, and I'm sure that none of you are upset, with the
exception of two specific people (one living somewhere in the middle of nowhere,
known as New Brunswick, and the other living an elitist city they call Calgary).
Anyway, let's start off with my nonsensically-long blog update.
Not
long ago, the Conservative government was under fire when a government lawyer
argued that thousands of same-sex marriages performed in Canada for tourists
that came to Canada may not be legal marriages, particularly if they now reside
in places that do not recognize same-sex marriages. The case stemmed from a
divorce between a woman from Florida and another woman from England, who were
Now that I'm done complaining about society and a lot of other things, it's time
to talk about my boring life in as much detail as excruciatingly possible. When
I last made any sort of blog update, that update was made one minute before the
start of 2012. Since that time, things have been gradually improving in my life.
When 2012 first started, I was excited that 2011 had finally come to an
end. However, everything was still in a negative light for me at the beginning
of the year. As time progressed, so did my attitude towards life, with January
being an excellent month for me.
The month of January worked out very well for me, and I'll tell you all about it
in the coming paragraphs.
