I Say No More
No more waking up weekends and not having a plan. I absolutely love lounging about the whole day long, but I'm beginning to think it's not good for my psyche. Once the weekend is over, I feel empty, unaccomplished, sloth-like. Why is this just starting now? I've never felt this way before.
There's an easy solution. Usually if I have a busy day ahead of me, I'll mentally go over the most efficient sequence of events, during the first few minutes before I open my eyes in the morning. I think that's what I've got to do, even if my day isn't busy. Or maybe doing this will create the feeling of a busy day, so I'll step out of bed in the morning already in second gear.
I also need to be more productive, creatively speaking. I've got this wicked awesome camera (the
Canon EOS-1D Mark III) on loan from work, and I've barely used it. I'm supposed to be checking to see that everything on the camera is functional; I already know it is, but I should be using this opportunity more to my advantage. Here's a pic I've taken with it!
It's Queenie, of course!
Labels: babble, queenie, randomness
What The Conservatives Are Offering...
Federal Leader: Stephen Harper
Parkdale-High Park: Jillian Sawezcko
Female Candidates: 18%What’s mentioned on
their website:
1. Sovereignty
2. Leadership
3. Environment
4. Health Care
5. Lower Taxes
6. Child Care
7. Tackling Crime
8. Accountability
Interestingly, there’s a full page and a link under the “Leaders” category for Harper’s wife, Laureen, but there is no search function on the website. This makes things difficult.
Concerning the issues that are most important to me...
Afghanistan... Harper recently, finally, committed to having Canadian troops out of Afghanistan by 2011. There’s nothing else about Afghanistan under the “Key Issues” section.
The Environment...The Conservatives talk a lot about what they’ve done in the past, but there’s no mention of what they plan for the future, should Harper be re-elected. They have introduced what they claim to be a balanced and achievable plan to reduce Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions 20% by 2020 and cut air pollution in half by 2015 (aren‘t GHGs part of air pollution?). The want to offer a lot of incentives for people making green choices, and they want to fund green technologies, but they don’t say where that money is going to come from. There’s absolutely no mention of green tax shifting, or even of a carbon market… nothing about how the economy and the environmental policies can work successfully together. Which I find strange.
The Federal Budget... I admit, I like that the GST has been reduced twice since Harper’s been in office. And that’s the main bit of bravado on their webpage dedicated to the economy of Canada. I have no qualms with the budget the Conservatives have laid out, except that they neglected to factor in the environment. It’s not mentioned once.
Northern Sovereignty...The Tories have sovereignty on the top of their list of “key issues”. TheY stress that a "four-pronged approach" is what’s needed. That’s pushing economic development (“unleashing“ the potential of our resource-rich north), national sovereignty (more protection), Northern input and control (ending the “paternalistic“ federal policies of past governments), and environmental protection (self-explanatory). These all sound like good things, but I’m wary of how much resource potential they see in the north, and how they‘d go about exploiting, I mean, "unleashing" it.
What The Green Party Says...
Federal Leader: Elizabeth MayParkdale-High Park: Rob RishchynskiFemale Candidates: 29%What’s mentioned on
their website:
1. Economy
2. Family
3. Health Care
4. Environment
5. Afghanistan
Concerning the issues that I feel are most important to me:
Afghanistan...The Green Party’s stance on Afghanistan is similar to the NDP’s; get the troops out ASAP (no later than Feb. 2009), and work with the UN instead of following along with NATO/US plans. The great thing about the Green’s site, is the whack of information they provide, in concise language that makes it easy to understand. And they have many intentions, like aiding the Afghan police force with training, proposing a time-limited offer to have the Canadian military help with training the Afghan National Army, involving surrounding countries in a
large-region peace treaty, fighting the illegal poppy trade industry, promoting agriculture in Afghanistan, and protecting the personal rights of Afghanis.
The Environment...You assume the Green Party's platform will be largely based on the environment. And it is, but it’s a mix of both the NDP and the Liberal thought processes. They mention how a shift to green power is fiscally possible, and their statement offers a general feeling of hope. They also recognize that environmental issues affect every aspect of life, and therefore they affect every aspect of government.
Their plan is the same as the Liberal’s, who want to tax the big polluters and give back to those holding themselves personally responsible (recyclers, cyclists, etc.). As for Kyoto, the Green Party doesn’t believe the targets are quite feasible, but because of international commitments made, and the importance of
keeping those commitments, they’ll work to “reaffirm” Kyoto’s goals, through carbon taxes, caps and trades. An interesting addition to this platform is the mention of “adjusting to climate change”. See- this is what I’m looking for. A realistic look into the future, with plans for how to handle it.
The Federal Budget...
The Green Party’s website is comprehensive through and through, but here’s a good summary paragraph:
“We strive for stronger local economies with a small business focus, increased national and regional self-sufficiency, economic diversification, more “fair” trade, more value-added manufacturing of resources, more green-certified production and a rapid shift to more renewable energy to create local economic opportunities.”
They want to reduce income tax, reduce payroll tax, introduce a carbon tax and eliminate nonsense subsidies. What’s more, they’ve stressed that a government with the economic forethought concerning green power will benefit. And oh, they’re pushing for more vacation time and shorter work weeks.
Northern Sovereignty...The Green Party wants to ask the UN to lay down the law concerning the sovereignty of the northern waters. They also want to develop a comprehensive pan-Arctic waste management strategy, and implement a strict watch over the arctic to catch any vessels not registered to be in any of the six passages through northern Canadian waters. They want to provide more funding for “indigenous food” protection, for the Northern Climate Exchange, for arctic science, and they also want to re-establish the
Circumpolar Ambassador position.
One more party to look at. Tomorrow I'll post (unbiased, I promise) about the Conservatives.
What the Liberals Are Offering...
Federal Leader: Stéphane DionParkdale-High Park: Gerard KennedyFemale Candidates: 37%What’s mentioned on
their website:
1. Economic prosperity
2. Social justice
3. Environmental sustainability
Concerning the issues that I feel are most important to me:
Afghanistan...The first hit in a search for Afghanistan on the Liberal website brought up
an article concerning the Conservative’s secrecy of its actions in Afghanistan, and an appeal for more communication between the Tories and the opposition. As of right now, the Liberals support the Canadian military mission in Afghanistan until 2011.
The Environment...The Liberal’s have a nifty “Green Shift” plan, with a
spiffy website to go along with it. It’s based mostly on tax cuts, using money as a motivator. While I see the merit of this approach, I try not to think of Canadians as such money-grubbers. The plan might just work, though, if put into place… money talks, or so they say. They talk about supporting a shift from fossil to renewable fuels and emphasizing conservation in Canadian households, but they also explicitly mention that corporate tax cuts will happen, to “attract investment and create jobs”, and at one point, abruptly discounts any suspicion that this is tax grab by the government.
The Federal Budget... The Liberals are just trashing the Conservative’s economical progress (or lack thereof), which is normal, and warranted. But they do go on to say they want to work towards, “an economy based on knowledge, ingenuity and innovation. An economy that is economically and environmentally sustainable, spearheading new green technologies.”
Northern Sovereignty... Liberal Northern Affairs critic Larry Bagnell says:
“Canada’s North means more than just resources to be exploited and good locations for military installations. There are very serious issues in the North that the federal government must address including literacy, the climate change crisis, and settling land claims. Only the Liberal Party has a strategy to deal with all of these issues.”
They want to give them some money and better education, make sure land claims settlement programs are played out, curb arctic waste dumpings and climate change, buy some search and rescue planes and station them in the north, complete northern seabed mapping, and re-instate a Circumpolar Ambassador. All good things! The Liberals have a clear plan for the north, I just hope they stick to their word, if elected.
Next, I'll be summing up what I think The Green Party can offer...
Labels: 2008, federal election, liberal
What The NDP Is Saying...
Federal Leader: Jack Layton Parkdale-High Park: Peggy NashFemale Candidates: 39%What’s mentioned first and foremost on
their website:
1. More jobs, in a new energy sector.
2. “Protect and modernize” public health care- with environmental emphasis.
Concerning the issues that I feel are most important to me:
Afghanistan...Sadly, a search for “Afghanistan” on the NDP website results in numerous (
probably around 98) statements given by Layton, expressing his condolences. I say sadly, only because of how truly sad the war in Afghanistan is. The NDP are working to get our combat troops out of that country, and to emphasize peace-keeping. Here's the NDP response to the Tory/Lib Afghanistan mission extension, from Mar. 14, 2008:
“The NDP’s plan for peace includes pursuing a political solution delivered by the UN. The UN’s mandate to preserve and promote international peace and security and its longstanding experience in peace negotiations make it the appropriate international body to be in charge in Afghanistan – not NATO.”
The Environment... We know that the environment is a big part of the NDP’s platform. They’ve already passed
Bill C-377- Kyoto Plus, which sets scientifically based targets for lowering emissions (an 80% reduction from 1990 levels by 2050, with interim targets every five years). They’ve also re-worked the budget to put more money into the environment, rather than offer corporate tax cuts. What’s best, is that they incorporate the environment on almost every level of their platform. There aren’t many facts though, on what they plan to do if the NDP get the majority of votes.
The Federal Budget...I’m finding the NDP website a bit frustrating. The others have categorized their platform into pertinent sub-sections, but the NDP site just lays out all of their past successes. Alas, I can gather from the site that the NDP believe the forestry industry workers (and the working person in general) are an important part of Canada, and that their jobs need to be protected. The NDP is also working for cheaper education, and diminishing the gap between the rich and everyone else.
Northern Sovereignty... The last thing I wanted to research was the plan to protect our northern sovereignty. Layton actually went on an extensive tour of the Arctic last year, and came up with a few ideas. Mostly, he wants to invest in northern community infrastructure, such as a deep-water port in Iqaluit. I think this is a step in the right direction.
Stay tuned for my notes on what the Liberal Party is offering...
Labels: 2008, federal election, new democratic party
The Times, They Are A Changing
With the election coming up in less than a month, I figured I should take some time out and read through the various party websites, and see what's what. I made some notes, cause I'm a geek like that, and I decided to post them on here. Maybe they'll help someone else decide who to vote for on October 14th.
The issues that are important to me are as follows:- Stance on Afghanistan…
- Environmental action plan…
- Goals for federal budget…
- Protecting Canada’s north…
- Immigration…
- Aboriginal consideration…
- Cycling…
The problem with these websites sometimes, is their lack of future-oriented information. The reason these sites are up is to help us choose who our
future leader will be. But what’s mentioned is often just past successes, and of course the failures of the opposition. I want to see cut and dry blueprints for what to expect when the Liberal, New Democrat, or Green parties take over (please, please, please).
A B C… Anything But Conservative.Stay tuned for my summary of the NDP's offerings, concerning some of the issues that are important to me (and maybe you)...
Labels: "canada votes", 2008, canada, decision, federal election
Customer Service Woes
In my world, anyways.
I'll start with Bell. I canceled my internet service with Bell at the beginning of July. Or so I thought. When I called, I was given no trouble about canceling my service, which I thought was strange. But hey, I don't work for Bell, and I figured maybe they'd decided to start treating their customers properly. I was wrong.
When I got back from NYC, I checked my bank statements, and found out that Bell
DID NOT cancel my account. They continued to withdraw a monthly fee from me over the summer. I called on Friday, September 5th to cancel AGAIN, and boy, was I livid. The women I spoke with then gave me a cancellation confirmation number, and I figured things were finally settled. I take a look at my statements again on Wednesday the 10th, and
they've withdrawn ANOTHER $40 out of my account the day before.
I called back and gave them an earful. They're refunding me the money they owe me, but WTF?!? Do they seriously think that ignoring their customer's requests are going to make them more money?? What's even worse... they tell me the "cheque is in the mail". Who the hell sends cheques in the mail anymore?? They told me it'll take 6-8 weeks for it to arrive. WHAT??!? No fuckin' way. I told them I wanted that refund cheque in my mailbox in five business days. Or else.
The second customer service debacle happened at Lenscrafters. When I was in New York, my glasses busted in half. I had no choice but to visit a Lenscrafters there and purchase new frames and lenses. They were extremely nice, very helpful, and I got a beautiful pair of Donna Karin frames for what I think is a fair price ($289.99 USD). They assured me the warranty was valid in Canada, and that if I had any problems with them in the next 30 days, I can bring them back to get them redone. Well, after wearing them for a few days, my eyes didn't adjust. Things were blurry, especially along the bottom edge of my vision.
I tried to bring them back to the Lenscrafters in the Eaton Centre. The women there told me they just needed to be adjusted, so I had them adjusted. I gave it a few more days... I know it takes time for the eye to adjust to a new pair of glasses. But things weren't any clearer after a week and a half with them. So I brought them back again. The customer service rep I spoke with had no idea what she was doing, so I asked to speak with her supervisor.
The retail manager came out, and convinced me that I should get an eye exam done. "That way, we won't have any choice but to replace the lenses." I made an appointment with the eye doctor for the next day, and asked Carlos (the manager) if he would be in at that time. He said no, but he'd make a note in my file, and he said he spoke with his boss, and she knew of the situation.
So, I go to my appointment the next day and get a new prescription. The doctor even said the astigmatism strength of the new glasses was too strong, and that's why things were blurry along the bottom edge of my vision. I bring the new scrip back to Lenscrafters, and the supervisor (a different one) refuses to replace the lenses under the warranty. She talks to the boss, and the boss says she knows nothing about it. What??!? Ugh. I explained the
entire situation to her
again, and she just keeps saying, "That's interesting." I wanted to pull her hair. But I did not. I said I'd be back tomorrow, when I knew Carlos (her boss) would be there. She said she could give me a 20% discount on new lenses, and I said that is NOT acceptable. Man! I went back the next day, and Carlos replaced the lenses with no more questions. Why couldn't that have happened the day before??
What's happening to our customer service level??!? Is the age of online shopping and the self-serve checkout making customer service training at retail stores obsolete? And Bell... well- that's just Bell. They suck. I urge everyone looking for any type of internet/phone/satellite service to
STEER CLEAR OF BELL, if you want to save yourself a lot of hassle and frustration.
Labels: bell, customer service, lenscrafters, rant
From The Big Smoke, To The Big Apple, And Back Again
Good times in New York City!
Day One: Sweet flight with
Porter Airlines from Toronto City Centre Airport to Newark International. Leather seats with lots of leg room, complimentary wine, cutest mascot ever. Porter rocks! We arrived in NYC at around 5pm, and hoofed it to our "hotel" -
The Pod Hotel. Central location, swanky lobby, very comfortable rooms (me and Bex shared a bunk bed), and clean facilities. This is a great place to stay if you can't afford a hotel, but want something a bit better than a crowded hostel in Manhattan. We grabbed some
Abatino's Pizza for our first meal in the city, and then headed to a
CouchSurfing gathering at a bar called
Revival, where we met up with tonnes of nice people, and
Garry- a friend from Toronto who was also in the city for the weekend. I was surprised at how many Canadians were there, actually!
Day Two: On Friday, we walked down 2nd Avenue to
John's Diner for some breakfast. Bex was attracted to the pink vinyl booths, and her instinct paid off. Eggs cooked to perfection, with some great potatoes, bacon and toast, and super efficient service! Oh, and great coffee, which was important, because we had a lot of museum-going to do! After breakfast, we headed to
The American Museum of Natural History, which was amazing. Lots of stuff to see. I can see how a kid might appreciate it a bit more than us grown-ups, though. For lunch, we grabbed a (highly inferior) "sausage" from a street vendor in Central Park. It was a piddly sausage. No more than a slightly inflated, slightly spicy hot dog, really. Toronto street meat is WAY better! After seeing
The Great Lawn, we made our way to the
Metropolitan Museum of Art, which was even more amazing than the first museum. More than once I stood in absolute awe in front of some famous painting or other- Picasso, Renoir, Matisse, Monet. It was great. After the Met, we grabbed a clubhouse and a pint (or two) of cider at
Murphy's Pub, around the corner from our hotel. The music on the jukebox was great, and we overheard some people talking about hockey and weed at the bar... more Canadians!
Day Three: Saturday we woke up early and decided to try out the
subway. Sheesh! That's a confusing network, to say the least! We rode around in circles for a bit, and then finally got on the right train to take us downtown, all the way to
Battery Park. We hopped on a ferry to Liberty Island, where we got to admire
The Lady herself, in all her humongous glory. It was pretty humbling. Lunch consisted of more pizza on the island - surprisingly good for frozen, pre-packaged pie! Once back on the mainland (so to speak), we started walking north. We were humbled yet again by the bronze mural memorializing those who were lost in the attack on the Twin Towers. The site itself was underwhelming... just a huge construction site now. Which is a good thing, really- time to move on, progress, show the world that New Yorkers, Americans, can't be beat down. Next was a stop at
Century 21, not the real estate firm, but the department store. I got a sweet pair of Blowfish booties. We continued to walk north to Union Square... man- that was a trek. For every 20 blocks, it's one mile. I think we walked about 150 blocks! We met up with Bex's godmom Suzanne, who is awesome by the way, and went to a place called the
Chat n' Chew for some dinner. Great little diner, tucked away on a lower level on East 16th Street. After, we visited Suzanne's friend Hunter at the
Borders (US version of Chapters), where they did NOT have Ondaatje's
Divisadero available. Silly American bookstores. We rested for a couple hours at the hotel that night, and then cabbed it to Soho, where we parked ourselves at the bench of
The Broome Street Bar. Lo and behold, we met another Canadian- the barkeep was born in Stratford. I got "pants-shitting drunk" off of White Russians (just as Becky predicted) and we pretty much closed the bar. At the end, two more drinks showed up with a basket of fries. Compliments of the kitchen staff! It pays to get cosy at the bar, sometimes. It was an excellent night!
Day Four: Sunday, however, was not so excellent. I would have to say it was the worst day for me, in a long long time. LOL... but I was in New York City! So, it really didn't get me down too much. I started the day at around 6:30am... when I had to climb out of my top bunk to vomit repeatedly. This lasted until about 1pm. Yeah. That's my typical hangover. Which is why I don't drink that much! Bex texted me letting me know she'd located the
Fluevog store, and that got me right out of bed. I showered, and was about to do my makeup, when SHIT! My glasses broke in half! WTF! So, I donned my prescription sunglasses (thankfully I had those with me) and picked out a new pair at Lenscrafters. They're nice. Big and plastic and green. I like. Then, I ran out of minutes on my phone, and I'd forgotten how to reload directly from the handset. I spent a good hour looking for an internet cafe, but in the meantime got to see Brasilfest, Rockefeller Centre, Radio City Music Hall, a bit of Times Square, and I found out that the Broadway show
Wicked does NOT have a Sunday evening performance (which was the third shitty thing that happened- these events do tend to come in threes). I met up again with Bex, and we visited
Viva Pancho, a Mexican restaurant recommended to us. It was excellent, and reminded me of the authentic Mexican I used to get at Xoximocho's in Detroit. After dinner, we walked through Times Square and then to the Empire State Building. After waiting for about an hour and half, we finally made it to the top, where the view was SPECTACULAR. I think this was my most favourite part of the trip.
Day Five: Monday morning we awoke to another beautiful day (the weather was fabulous the entire time we were there). Today was supposed to be chock full of museums again, but we opted to take our time getting around, and wandered over to the
Museum of Modern Art. I figured the MoMA was going to be alot like the Met, and there were many similarities (so much Picasso!), but the thing I liked about MoMA were the commonplace designer items, like chairs, and helmets, and camper vans! They also had a sweet
Salvador Dali exhibit running, which was cool to see. After MoMA, we were supposed to hit the Guggenheim, but instead we decided to do more shopping. I finally got around to the Fluevog store, where I bought my third pair of Vogs. So good. We also got to try some of the infamous
Pinkberry frozen yogurt, which was good, but nothing too special. Like Yogen-Fruz, but unstirred, and in New York. After a rest at the hotel, we met up again with Suzanne and Hunter, for a great meal at
Serendipity3, home of the Frozen Hot Chocolate dessert. Basically, it's a huge bowl of hot chocolate powder mixed with icy cold milk, blended with ice to make it frothy. Simple, and delicious! We couldn't stay in on our last night in town, so we sought out a bar recommended to us by the guy at the wine and spirits store, a place called the
Manchester Pub. He told us the bartenders there were Canadian, so that seemed like the place to go! It was a cute little pub, and the bartender, while not Canadian (the canucks had the night off), was super cute and super nice. He gave us a couple free drinks because it was our last night. And he liked
my Shel Silverstein tattoo.
Day Six: Our last day in NYC, we hummed and hawed over whether we should go to the
Guggenheim or not. See, we had the tickets already (we'd purchased these CitiPass booklets, which were a fantastic deal), but time was limited. We decided against, and went shopping instead. We walked into
Bloomingdale's, and shortly thereafter walked out (it's DAMN expensive in that store)! I bought myself a cute "diamond" encrusted letter "K" necklace at an accessory shop called JFay, and we stopped into a sweet little pet shop where the cutest, smallest dogs in the world could be had for an astronomical price. We cabbed it over to Grand Central Station, where we caught our shuttle bus back to Newark. We boarded the plane at 4pm, and were back in Toronto by 6:30, home by 7pm (but not until I paid $30 tax on my purchases- damn customs!).
Phew. I think we spent the perfect amount of time in NYC... although, I'll definitely be going back to see more!
All of my photos from the trip can be seen here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ravenswift/sets/72157607085128075/Labels: bex, new york city, trip, vacation
