How come there's a national "Do not call" list designed to keep annoying telephone calls from disturbing the peace and sanctity of our personal space, and spam blockers designed to allow us to keep billions of unwanted e-mails from destroying our time and sanity, but there's nothing to stem the tide of unsolicited junk mail cluttering up our cherished bills, parking tickets and notices of jury duty?
Why is it legal for someone to send me as much crap as they can afford to send and I am obligated under threat of being taken away by armed agents of the government, to accept it all? Isn't it about time that in the name of the environment, not to mention in the name of Vinny, that a national "Do not send" list is established?
Virtually every business day of the year, I receive about three pieces of junk mail. I never spend more than the time it takes to pick it up and deliver it to my recycling bag, reading any of it. Yes, it's good that it is recycled (I hope you all do, too), but there is a large cost involved in the life cycle of printed matter.
And while I'm coming up with ideas for this wish list, can someone please come up with a "Do not encounter" list for cell phones? You know, you populate your cellphone with the names--phone numbers, I guess, of people you'd least like to run into, say, your ex-wife who took you to the cleaners and would frisk you for more in a chance encounter, the guy you borrowed $50 from a month ago that you were supposed to pay back three weeks ago, Uncle Leo, etc., and through the magic of GPS, keeps them at bay. Perhaps for a small additional monthly fee, the phone will direct you to the nearest and best hiding place when someone from your DNE list is dangerously near.
A light bulb just went off--or is it "went on"? Funny that we say an alarm went off when it really went on. Anyway, on this same theme...ya know what? This post is long enough. If your attention span is as short as mine, you stopped reading after the first paragraph. I'll describe my brilliant idea in another post, tomorrow. Be sure to stop by. I'll be serving free coffee and Danish.
Saturday, 7 February 2009
Friday, 6 February 2009
Classic cars from my childhood
Back in the late 60's, my older brother must have been quite a car enthusiast--probably "nut" is a more accurate adjective...even if it is a noun. He had recently purchased this beauty... (you can read about it here)
...a 1967 Chevrolet Chevelle SS 396, when he shortly thereafter embarked on an ambitious plan to build a '57 Chevy from the ground up, no less.
I remember him working on that car in the garage, sometimes alone, sometimes with a friend, at all hours, often working in the dark by the light of one of those lamps-on-a-cord-with-a-hook thingees. I can recall the jubilation when the engine first turned over. There would have been high fives all around except I'm almost positive no one had ever done a high five until a decade or two later. Even after that first milestone, there were setbacks. The car would randomly stall, sending my bro back to the drawing board.
The car wasn't one of my favourite colours--plain white, but millions of people the world over consider the '57 Chevy one of the most stylish vehicles ever produced.
Another thing I remember is how loud that street machine was. I don't recall what size engine was in it or what kind of exhaust system/mufflers/resonators it had, but I can tell you unequivocally that it would not be ignored. A slight touch of the gas pedal, idling or not, and heads would turn from a block away. What I do know is that the Chevelle's 396 CID was bigger than whatever was in the Chev.
You may not believe what I am about to share, but I have heard this from my brother on more than one occasion. The '57 was faster off the line than the muscle car Chevelle! The only reason I can think of why this was so, is that the gear ratio must have favoured lower speeds in the '57.
It seems that "the white car" (how my 13 year old brain thought of it) wasn't with us very long. One day while bro was out cruisin' on Yonge Street, he came to a red light alongside a guy on a noisy bike. They glanced at each other and they rev'ed their respective machines. It seems silly to even think that a street-legal car could compete with even a moderately quick motorcycle, but...
The light turned green, the engines screamed, the tires screeched and like greased lightning they were off. In what must have seemed like a split second, driver and rider came to an even faster stop at the next light, the car slightly before the bike. The rider was blown away. He offered to buy the car from my brother on the spot and soon thereafter, I never saw "the white car" again.
To see all posts in this series click here.
Last Kiss music video.
Click here to go to most recent posts.
...a 1967 Chevrolet Chevelle SS 396, when he shortly thereafter embarked on an ambitious plan to build a '57 Chevy from the ground up, no less.
I remember him working on that car in the garage, sometimes alone, sometimes with a friend, at all hours, often working in the dark by the light of one of those lamps-on-a-cord-with-a-hook thingees. I can recall the jubilation when the engine first turned over. There would have been high fives all around except I'm almost positive no one had ever done a high five until a decade or two later. Even after that first milestone, there were setbacks. The car would randomly stall, sending my bro back to the drawing board.
The car wasn't one of my favourite colours--plain white, but millions of people the world over consider the '57 Chevy one of the most stylish vehicles ever produced.
Another thing I remember is how loud that street machine was. I don't recall what size engine was in it or what kind of exhaust system/mufflers/resonators it had, but I can tell you unequivocally that it would not be ignored. A slight touch of the gas pedal, idling or not, and heads would turn from a block away. What I do know is that the Chevelle's 396 CID was bigger than whatever was in the Chev.
You may not believe what I am about to share, but I have heard this from my brother on more than one occasion. The '57 was faster off the line than the muscle car Chevelle! The only reason I can think of why this was so, is that the gear ratio must have favoured lower speeds in the '57.
It seems that "the white car" (how my 13 year old brain thought of it) wasn't with us very long. One day while bro was out cruisin' on Yonge Street, he came to a red light alongside a guy on a noisy bike. They glanced at each other and they rev'ed their respective machines. It seems silly to even think that a street-legal car could compete with even a moderately quick motorcycle, but...
The light turned green, the engines screamed, the tires screeched and like greased lightning they were off. In what must have seemed like a split second, driver and rider came to an even faster stop at the next light, the car slightly before the bike. The rider was blown away. He offered to buy the car from my brother on the spot and soon thereafter, I never saw "the white car" again.
To see all posts in this series click here.
Last Kiss music video.
Click here to go to most recent posts.
Thursday, 5 February 2009
Q & A's from around the web
Is there a software that can adjust the brightness of my monitor?
You behoves retrevial drivers for department's plant (graphics card, monitor).You can take it in corporation provided, produce's, upper or google.com
Editor's note: I thought I had a reasonable grasp of computers, but maybe not. I can't understand a word of the above answer. Can you?
You behoves retrevial drivers for department's plant (graphics card, monitor).You can take it in corporation provided, produce's, upper or google.com
Editor's note: I thought I had a reasonable grasp of computers, but maybe not. I can't understand a word of the above answer. Can you?
Wednesday, 4 February 2009
Humber College to International Space Station: Do you copy?
Four community college students from Toronto contacted the space station through a hand-built apparatus, making them the first college-level students in the world to do so. It took them more than a year and a half to build the transceiver with many setbacks along the way, but in the end, the successful contact was so overwhelming that one of the students broke down and cried.
A number of the campus students spoke with U.S. astronaut Sandra Magnus for about ten minutes while she hurtled through space at 27,000 kilometres per hour.
The students' professor called his students' accomplishment the highlight of his career.
In a strange coincidence, I have a personal connection to this story. I happen to have attended Humber College when I was a youth. It's a small world, isn't it? Even when you're talking to someone out in space.
The Story.
A number of the campus students spoke with U.S. astronaut Sandra Magnus for about ten minutes while she hurtled through space at 27,000 kilometres per hour.
The students' professor called his students' accomplishment the highlight of his career.
In a strange coincidence, I have a personal connection to this story. I happen to have attended Humber College when I was a youth. It's a small world, isn't it? Even when you're talking to someone out in space.
The Story.
Tuesday, 3 February 2009
17th century sanitary conditions in 2009?
One thing that always gets my ire up is when the almighty dollar is put ahead of people's health, safety or well-being. In recent days, there has been a media circus surrounding the closing of a supermarket by Toronto health department officials due to a "heavy infestation of mice" and evidence of a rat infestation, also.
News reports indicate that after a store customer complained to Toronto Public Health, "a large number of rodent droppings in display, food preparation and storage areas" were witnessed by health inspectors. The store, part of one of the largest food chains in Canada, released the following statement:
News reports indicate that after a store customer complained to Toronto Public Health, "a large number of rodent droppings in display, food preparation and storage areas" were witnessed by health inspectors. The store, part of one of the largest food chains in Canada, released the following statement:
"The store is currently undergoing an intense sanitization process. Our food safety team is on-site and assessing all products for any potential compromise to packaging. Loblaws vows to remove any products at risk and to review pest control processes. We are committed to providing customers with a clean and safe store environment. We are taking swift action to resolve the situation."
It begs the following questions:
Where was the "intense sanitization process" before they got caught for this gross violation?
Where was the commitment to "review pest control processes"?
The most damning thing is that clearly many employees were aware of the severity of the problem with droppings all over the place and yet no one chose to do anything about it. As far as I'm concerned, the promises to rectify the situation are as empty as I hope the store will be for the foreseeable future. The health and safety of Loblaw's own customers, the ones filling the store's coffers, were blatantly and totally disregarded. The good ship Trust has sailed, Mr. Weston.
If you won't do the right thing for you customers, at least do it for the future of your employees. And if not for them, then for your own future bottom line and quite possibly your own job. If you haven't already, I suggest you initiate a complete and thorough inspection and review of possible infestation at each and every Loblaws store. In the end, it may be cheaper than doing nothing. Even if it isn't, consider it the cost of getting a good night's sleep. One can only hope that it did not come easy the last few days.
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