An Ode...
This post is dedicated to all of my best friends and my family...
Stef, because she asked for a copy of this...
James, because he's just had major surgery (successfully) and he's been in my thoughts...
Bex, because I feel like we've lost touch over the past couple of months, which sucks...
Roxanne, because she's missing her bro, and I'm missing her...
Ben, because he needs to be reminded of the simple things in life (and to not work so much!)...
Shirley, because she's the bestest step-mom a girl could ever have, and she takes excellent care of my dad...
Karie, because life for her is trying, but she's done, and will continue to do, the best job living her life (and taking care of my brother and nephew) of anyone I know... and
Stace, because, well... it's Stace! I think she gave this to me in the first place, actually...
Kiss the back of your hand and remember a moment in childhood when you felt the perfect joy of being at home in the world.
Give a gift to a river, lake or ocean.
Treasure the unique shape and contours of your beautiful face.
For just 48 hours, be inflamed with the hypothesis that your soul will live on forever.
Imagine that your place of power is where the tree joins the earth.
Playfully lower your expectations all the way down to the bottom and tune into the shattering sweetness of life exactly the way it is.
Put yourself under the protection of the raw elements.
Write an epic three-page autobiography while sitting in the pitch dark.
Seize the power to create magic that has always seemed impossible before.
A Post
For postings sake. That's it. And I'm bored at work.
Today is "Parts Tuesday". We list cameras that need repair, or those that have been repaired but have been abandoned by the original owners. We have to be careful when wording the description for these parts cameras, even though in
BOLD ORANGE LETTERS there is a disclaimer that says these cameras are being
SOLD FOR PARTS. We get customers calling us after they've received their parts cameras, wanting a refund or an exchange because they don't work. WELL, DUH!
It's not just the parts listings, either. It happens all the time. Part of my job is answering the "QFS" (question for seller) emails. I get some of the
stupidest queries in the world. I spend most of my morning typing out the words, "As stated in the description on eBay..." (that's a lie, actually- I've set up an auto-type function to write out those words immediately when I type "As st"). I can partly understand the situation if the querant doesn't speak English. But most of our questions come from North Americans.
What frustrates me even more is the fact that many buyers on eBay just skim through a listing, ignoring the pertinent information (like a refund policy, or shipping prices, or warranty info, or the CONDITION of the item they're buying). Seriously! If you're going to spend $400 on something online, would you not take the time and effort to read about what you're buying??!? The worst is when we get people saying, "this lens isn't compatible with my camera, so I want a refund". Sorry- we clearly state the compatibility of ALL of our items in the description. Bah!
I must say though, the most infuriating question I get is, "I live in the USA... does this North American warranty apply?" What the??!?
Photos of our eBay mascots (Squishy and Scrapey), taken with one of today's parts cameras. LOL!Labels: americans, cameras, rant, work
BIKE RANT
It's been a while... but this is a good one.
So there I was, riding north on Church, heading to work. All of a sudden I see this dark shadow out of the corner of my eye, and the slightest nudge against the rubber end of my handle bar. A shiny black Lincoln Continental just about tipped me over.
I caught up to her at the next light (which also happened to be my destination, so that was convenient). Her window was already rolled down, so I leaned over and said, "Hey." No reply. She had some ear buds in. Who wears headphones in a car?? Anyways- I said, a bit louder, "HEY." Still no reply. "HEEEEEEEEEEY!" Finally I got her attention.
"Do you realize you just about hit me back there?" I asked.
She had the gall to reply, "You should've moved over. I'm driving a big car."
"Just because you drive a big car, doesn't give you more right to be on the road," I explained.
"Well, as soon as you start paying taxes, and insurance, and blah blah blah..." she starts spewing out.
I kinda laugh under my breath. This is an easy argument to win. "As soon as you start paying the medical bills for all the people who have gotten sick from your carbon emissions, blah blah blah..."
She drives off. Typical reaction from a motorist. So I yell after her...
"POLLUTERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!1!!!11!!"I apologized to the pedestrians on the street around me. They smiled.
End rant.
Stupid motorists.
.
Labels: bike, rant
Tired After A Busy Weekend...
After complaining about doing too little last weekend, I decided to load up my calendar this time around. I had a busy weekend! I took a tonne of photos, which is always a good indication that I had a really good time...
Firstly, there was a movie being shot in my driveway. As annoying as it was that they were totally infringing on our property, it was cool to see all the cameras, the expensive car they were using in the shoot, and the
actors running around in super hero tights. The movie is
Kick-Ass, a comic book film that's supposed to come out next year.
Then it was off to Caroline's housewarming/birthday party. James' sister is just as cool as James. And she makes a wicked chocolate spice cake.
Saturday morning I woke up early to catch the sunrise with
Stef and a
couchsurfer from The Beaches named Rodney. I love sleeping in. Looooooooooove. But sometimes, I need to get up before the sun, and reconnect. Enjoy something visual that isn't digitally transmitted. You know? Plus, sunrises are the most beautiful things I can think of to take photographs of...
Saturday night was
Nuit Blanche, an all-night art show across the city. It's cool. I think this year's was better than last year's, but not as good as the first year. That's my assessment, anyways. I haven't uploaded the pics from that night yet, but they'll be up in my Flickr stream soon...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ravenswift/
