The World Suffers Because of Greedy Oil Tycoons

A few weeks ago, movie theatre companies announced they were increasing the price of popcorn and other already over-priced items at their concession stands. They claimed, their costs were rising to have these goodies delivered from their suppliers, because of increased fuel costs.

Food prices have constantly been on the rise, thanks to the cost of oil. It costs more to get the food from the suppliers to the grocery stores, because it costs more to fuel the trucks that carry those goods.

Air Canada – the largest national airline in the country – announced 2,000 layoffs due to – you guessed it – the constant increase in fuel.

Meanwhile, last week in Quebec, several gas stations were charged with fixing prices to ensure they get more than their fair share of the oil tycoon revenue.

We’ve long suspected that the mega-large and all too powerful oil companies have been fixing prices. Granted, a handful of gas stations in one province doesn’t mean much – but the constant rise of fuel around the globe certainly does.

Most companies have to set their prices in accordance with what the competition is selling theirs, otherwise no one will buy it. But if all the oil and gas companies, of which there are only a small number, work together to ensure they all sell their products at the same prices – guess what?

We all suffer. People lose their jobs, because companies can’t afford to keep them on because their costs go up. The costs of products and services which we depend on for our very survival – such as food, clothing and shelter – all increase, because it costs more to make and transport these things, due to increased fuel costs.

The oil tycoons on the other hand, continue to claim that oil prices are set by the standard market trends – the more people who want the product, the more it costs to fill that need – the classic supply and demand model.

Funny though, as fuel costs increase, more people than ever are taking unusual measures to cut their fuel consumption needs. Transit authorities all over Canada and the States are reporting record increases in users of public transit.

Many people even admit to taking the bus, instead of driving, to save money – because they can’t afford to refuel their cars.

Yet, with the oil tycoons claim there is a constant increase in the demand for their products, so the price is constantly going up.

I think the oil tycoons are ripping us all off. They are harming the fundamental basics of life, all so they can have a new car for every day of the week.

They probably spend a lot to fuel their cars – but hey, they get it all back in the end. Of all the companies we hear suffering due to oil costs – the oil companies aren’t any of them.

General Motors is shutting down a whole automotive manufacturing plant – with thousands of employees – in Ontario, because of increased oil prices forcing people to not be able to afford a new car.

Air Canada as mentioned earlier, is laying off 2,000 employees, but they are also cutting flights and raising prices to cover the costs of their increased fuel needs.

But we never hear of Imperial Oil, or any of the other oil tycoon companies cutting staff, slashing products or services, or closing factories or processing plants. All they do is keep raising the price of their products – while the world suffers.

We have become far too dependent on crude oil – which is where the real mess lies. If we utilized alternative fuels, such as wind, solar power, even electric, then we wouldn’t be at the mercy of a select greedy few oil tycoons. If we took advantage of alternatives to oil-based products, then the oil companies really would be forced to set their prices in accordance with market trends – instead of whatever they want to pad their pocketbooks.

But as with many things in life, we often don’t learn our lesson until it is too late. The economy is slumping, people are losing their jobs, and prices continue to rise – all because we depend on oil-based products and services to keep the economy moving.

High School Reunion Time Already?

You know you are old when you get an invite to meet up with people you haven’t seen in over 20-years.

Recently, I was invited to my high school reunion – well sort of. I was sent an online e-invite from one of my friends on Facebook that also attended the same school.

I checked out the Facebook site for the high school reunion, and saw faces from my past. It is eerie and cool at the same time.

It’s eerie because in high school, you are a very different person then when you are an adult. In high school, and university or college, you are still a kid at heart, becoming an adult. School gives you the opportunity to explore who you really are, which forms the basis for who you become as an adult.

All those late nights studying, those awkward first dates, all the extracurricular clubs and activities, all those wild parties, all those part-time McJobs – all of these experiences and more are just that – experiences.

It is the whole experience of growing up which makes us who we become later in life. Actually, life is nothing more than a collection of experiences, which constantly change and grow us throughout our lives.

But the point here is, although a high school reunion may be fun, I was just as different a person back in high school as all those I went to high school with are today. So, in a sense, we’re all strangers to one another.

Sure the cool part is to catch-up with friends and see what they are up to now, but then what?

Unless you happen to be in the same line of work, live on the same street, or have something else in common, you’re at a loss for connecting. Unless you keep those connections from the past, which I imagine happens.

Although I haven’t gone to a high school reunion – and I’m still not sure if I’ll go to this one – I imagine most of the time is spent remembering days past. What else can you talk about with someone you haven’t seen in over 20-years?

Granted, special bonds develop with those who you were close to during those early years – when you’re growing up, you’re sharing those experiences with those closest to you. But still, once you discuss the past, and share those memories from the past, what next?

The interest in seeing what people look like after all this time, and what they are doing now is the big draw. And it is nice to look back on high school and remember the good times, the silly times, and even some of the not so good times.

Maybe I’ll go just to do that – it is an experience. And that is all that life really is – experience.

Fear Not – Today Is Friday the 13

Superstitious people everywhere will be avoiding walking under ladders, black cats, and opening umbrellas inside, because today is supposedly the worst day of the year.

Today is Friday 13 – supposedly an unlucky day for those who believe in such things.

The number 13 is seen as bad luck, not just on the calendar, but everywhere. In my building, as in many, there isn’t a 13th floor. The numbers on the elevator go from 12 to 14. Technically, the 14th floor is the 13th, but they have labelled it 14, so that those unlucky enough to call that floor home, don’t fear for their lives.

I don’t think believe in superstitions. I was even born on a Friday 13, so in many ways 13 isn’t a bad number to me.

Still, fear sometimes scares us straight. Someone did a study showing that because people fear Friday 13, many are extra cautious on these days, so people are less likely to get into accidents on Friday 13.

Call me cynical, but those who take extra care on Friday 13 in fear deserve to have something bad happen to them. It’s almost like these individuals are hoping something bad happens, so they can justify their fictitious superstition.

That’s what superstition really is – fictitious. It is all in our imaginations.

We use our creative imaginations all the time to explain the unknown. The ancient Greeks believed thunder and lightening occurred when the Gods were mad, and fighting amongst themselves. It was thought that the world was flat, until Christopher Columbus sailed across the world, and didn’t fall over the edge. We tell children about Santa Clause and the Tooth Fairy to explain Christmas and how baby teeth fall out and why.

We still have magical mysterious imaginations, which make up stories when we just aren’t sure. Look at all the conspiracy theories surrounding the assignations of John F. Kennedy, the landing of man on the moon, even how the government monitor’s all telephone calls to listen for potential terrorists.

It is the same with the number 13, and Friday 13. Superstitions are fictional stories we use to explain the unknown. Bad things happen all the time, maybe Friday 13 was created as a day to explain how some of these bad things happen?

One thing is certain, it is easier to get around on Friday 13, because many people call in sick and take the day off, hiding from their own unknowns. Stay scared and in hiding, I hate traffic!

Some Were Born to Lead, Others We Aren’t Quite Sure

Being a consultant, I get around the corporate world so-to-speak. I go to many different companies, and get tossed into many different types of corporate cultures.

There are the exceptionally eased-back corporate cultures, where blue jeans, t-shirts, and flip-flops are the accepted form of daily dress. Then there is the other extreme, where fresh pressed suites and ties rule.

Whatever the corporate culture, a title should mean relatively the same thing across organizations, especially at the management or executive level. So, someone with the high ranking title of “Vice President” should have the same level of professionalism and experience at the company where blue jeans are the norm, and at the suite and tie shop.

However, it isn’t – in fact I often wonder how some people got to their high paying senior roles. Maybe they slept with the right people up the corporate ladder, or maybe they are related to the owner, or maybe they just happened to buy enough stock in the company.

As a consultant, my first indication of whether a potential client is worthy of my continued interest are the very first people I meet – most of whom are senior managers, executives, and their administrative staffs.

Recently, I encountered a vice president who was all eager and seemingly interested in my services. She was glowing over my solutions to her problems – as if she’d never heard of such wisdom before.

My job as a consultant, is to pin-point a company’s problem, and provide the solution. So her enthusiasm, although it was pleasantly received, did raise an initial red flag – surely she must have been discussing her problems with other consultants to find the best solution? That’s her job – to find the consultant with the best solution, within her budget, and then go with it.

We chatted for a while, and ended saying we’d email each other the required materials to get the ball rolling – she wanted to see some more samples from my portfolio, and I needed to see the project scope and timelines, so I could provide her with an assessment of time and cost to do the work.

I had mixed feelings already, as she was rushing the process, while at the same time indicating the project she had in mind for me didn’t start until the end of the month. There were also some issues I had with how she intended to pay for my services, but that is something I’d be happy to workout later, once we get a contract hammered out.

It was a Friday when we met, but she assured me she checks her email on weekends, so we’d both be ready to meet again on Monday and finalize the contract.

I worked late on Friday night, gathering the most relevant materials based on our discussions. Around seven Friday night, I emailed her what she was looking for. It was a large compressed ZIP file, but if it didn’t arrive, I’d get a bounced message back – or at the very least, because she checks her email and is expecting a large message from me, she would email me quickly asking why she hadn’t received it.

I’m on and off my email all weekend, and never receive a bounced message, so I assume the large email I sent reached her. But I don’t receive anything back – no project plans, no timelines, nadda.

I sent another email asking if she got my email, and inquiring about the one she told me she’d send on Saturday.

Sunday after Midnight – so technically the weekend is over as it is the wee hours of Monday – I receive an email from this vice president, advising that she hasn’t received my email!

For someone who checks her email on weekends, obviously she didn’t this weekend. She wanted me to send her the email again, and said we’d have to push back our meeting until Wednesday.

I was frustrated and disappointed, as I saw more red flags raised, but I attempted once again. I sent her a smaller email, and reminded her to send me the project specs.

Early Wednesday morning, the day I’m supposed to meet with her, she requests more samples, and wants to push back the meeting to another time. I still haven’t received anything from her, and I’ve already provided her with more materials than most potential clients, so now I’m really fuming.

Anyone who’s been in this business long enough to earn the title of vice president should be able to make a decision on whether to go ahead or not with the project, based on the materials I’ve provided, and offer my something concrete in writing. Unless of course she never really earned her title – maybe she’s the president’s niece, or sister-in-law, or lover, or whatever, but she certainly isn’t acting like a vice president.

I respond with a few more samples, advising her that I have other projects on the go, and the sooner she can make a decision, the better the chance she has of having me on the team. I advise her that we’ll meet once she has had a chance to go over the newly sent materials, as there is no point in meeting before. I still haven’t received anything from her, which is another major red flag.

When an administrative assistant says she’ll do something and doesn’t, you know that at that low level on the corporate food chain, that occurs. But at the management and executive levels, when someone says they will do something and they don’t, you know there is a serious problem within the company’s management.

Over the next few days, this supposedly vice president, requests more samples, and continues to set different times and days for meeting, which just as quickly as she sets the appointment, she asks me if I can reschedule for another time.

I got the feeling that she was intentionally stalling. Oh she wanted me on the team, but the project didn’t start until the end of the month, and we’re only in the first week of the month. So, instead of being a professional, and being honest with me, she strings me along, hoping to buy enough time until the project’s funds become available to bring me aboard. Alternatively, maybe she didn’t know enough about her job, and was hoping the more samples I sent her, the more ideas she could steal so she could do the work? Either way, it was another red flag, waving in the murky air.

I realize that this company isn’t worthy of my attention – maybe the company is well managed, just this one individual at the top isn’t very good at her job. But then again, maybe the whole company is run in such an unprofessional way? Who knows, I can only base my decision on those I am working with, and at this early stage of the game, this amateur vice president is the only person I am dealing with.

So I advise the vice president that I’ve taken on another client and will have no time for her project, but I wish her every success in finding the right consultant for her needs.

She emails me back, asking if I’ll be available in a few weeks, to work on her project. I ignore her email and move on – and I bet I’m not the first nor the last person who’s done that.

She was fishing to see if I was yet another alienated professional, which she has scared off because of her failure to be what she claims to be – a vice president.

She may not know how or why people suddenly put the brakes on her projects, but she’s probably found the right consultant before, only to have that person back off quickly and never work with her again.

And that is too bad, because it sounded like an exciting project. But having someone in the wrong role in a company can cost it big time – now she’s got to find another consultant, and hopefully, she won’t scare him off as well.

Some People Never Let Go

Our Prime Minister apologized today for the numerous sexual assaults in some native schools. The Prime Minister has never actually participated in any of these, he was apologizing on behalf of the nation.

The Natives of this land, and many other lands, have endured many changes from their traditional ways of life. European travellers discovered new land, and their native inhabitants many eons ago. And as both diverse cultures collided, so too did the ways this land was run.

All of this happened back in the days of the fur trade, long before cell phones, televisions or even the Internet. Yet in this day of technological advances – many of which the Natives use themselves – our politicians are still grid locked with Native protestors about issues that should have been buried long ago.

I’m not saying that the sexual abuse on Native-based schools is a good thing – far from it. But why is our country’s top dog apologizing for it, when he has absolutely nothing to do with it?

The answer is strictly political – the Natives blame their misfortunes on everyone and anyone that isn’t Native. They use the realm of politics to garner attention and support for their causes, when for the most part, their causes have nothing to do with that realm.

Sexual abuse unfortunately happens in many places across the country, but you don’t hear the Prime Minister apologizing to those who aren’t Native.

Poverty, hunger, alcoholism, drug abuse and other problems common throughout society, have all been blamed on modern society by the Natives. Our federal government has responded by pumping billions of dollars into Native communities, in the hopes of helping with these problems. But these problems occur everywhere in our society, not just on Native soils. How come our federal government doesn’t take the time to try and solve these problems nationally?

Because Native protestors are violent, politically savvy terrorists. That truly is what they are – you don’t see Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) blocking major highways, and threatening to shoot anyone that passes. Yet MADD does great work in helping victims of drunk drivers. The United Way, one of the largest non-profit charitable organizations in Canada, which provides training, clothing, and shelter services to the poor, doesn’t light our national flag on fire, while getting into fist fights with police during a protest, as the Natives do.

There are many examples of just how good, solid organizations raise awareness about real issues, versus the violent methods Natives use to resurrect old issues, just because they really have nothing left to complain about.

When a group of people takes federally issued funds and uses those funds to cause harm and violence, instead of to use it for resolution of the issues for which it was intended, then I think we should stop supporting Native causes.

Why should our tax dollars be spent on bullets and barricades, when they can be used elsewhere in the country for peaceful means?

Yes, what happened to the Natives during the fur trade was horrible, and shows a certain level ignorance towards their culture and way of life. But those horrors occurred long before our grand parents – and even our great grand parents – were alive. So why are we still hearing the same old song and dance?

I think, the Natives just aren’t creative enough to come up with real solutions to their own problems, so they hold on to old issues to rally support around. These rallies gather much needed financial support, which they in turn put into more rallying cries, instead of their intended purpose – to help with the issues raised.

It’s time our politicians woke the f*ck up and stopped funding violent, terrorist-like behaviour. It’s time for our politicians to leave the past in the past, and move on towards the future. Let go of the Natives, they just hold the rest of the country back from progress.

Lost That Neighbourly Feeling

This past weekend, I was helping my parents put in a patio. They live in a relatively new subdivision, and they have teamed up with their fellow neighbours to put in fences between the backyards.

When I was a kid growing up, we moved into a new subdivision, and we also teamed up with the neighbours to put in fences. Back then, my dad was younger and one of our neighbours was a contractor, so we did it all ourselves. I helped my dad, and we worked with the other neighbours to dig the holes, cement in the posts, and put up the wooden planks.

I remember putting in the fence when I was kid, it was a lot of work. But, the upside was we got to know our neighbours quite well. Knowing our neighbours paid off in the long-term, as me and my brother were quite young, and we’d play with the other kids that lived on our street. As everyone knew everyone, it made the neighbourhood a safe, friendly place to be.

All the parents knew each other’s parents, so if one of us disappeared, it wasn’t hard for them to track us down – usually at one of the other kid’s houses.

My parents are a lot older now, so they aren’t putting in the fence for themselves. All the neighbours have chipped in money, to hire a contracting company to build the fences. This isn’t a bad thing, as the fence is going up a lot faster than when I was a kid, and it’s good that my parents don’t have to do any of the hard work.

Problem is, the neighbours aren’t getting to know each other as well as they probably should. Sure, my parents are older, and my brother and I are all grown-up, and don’t live with my parents anymore. So we won’t be playing with the other kids on the street, and our parents don’t need to know who’s kid is whose.

But, that doesn’t mean it isn’t a good idea to know your neighbours. If you know the people living around you, chances are you will all look out for each other somewhat. Be it something as simple as taking in a neighbours paper and mail when they are away on vacation, to calling the police if you see someone breaking into a neighbours house, to simply creating a warm, friendly neighbourhood, where everyone feels apart of the community.

That’s the real issue – there is a certain lack of community these days in modern subdivisions. When I was a kid growing up, home wasn’t just a building to go to for sleeping and eating. I felt home turning onto my street, waving at my neighbours as they watered their lawn, even helping them out when they needed the occasional help moving patio stones, or whatever. The street was just as much apart of my home, as the physical building where my bed lay.

These days, people tend to keep more to themselves. They don’t open up and get to know those living around them as much as they used too. I suppose part of the reason, is my parents don’t have kids enrolled in the same schools as those other parents on the street.

But still, when I was a kid growing up, I knew the other people on the street, even if they didn’t have kids. There was the engineer on the corner, who’d come over every so often to see my train collection – I had a big model train set in the basement. There were also parents whose kids went to other schools – like our next door neighbours whose kids went to the Catholic school, instead of the public school which I went too.

We still knew these people, just as well as the rest on the street. And we looked out for each other, and made the community just that – a community.

It might be nice to live in a brand new house, but that sense of community in those new subdivisions just creeps me out, and makes me long for days gone by – when we all cared about where we lived.

A Mangle of Spaghetti – But Not the Kind You Can Eat

Yesterday, I had my brother over to hang out, watch some movies, and catch-up. It’s always a pleasure having him over – we’re both so busy in our daily lives, we don’t get to see each other as we used too.

We did typical guy things – played some computer games, checked out the score in the baseball game (the Jay’s lost) ordered in some greasy fast-food, and watched a gory guy’s movie.

He brought over the movie – a two disc compilation. The first disc worked perfectly in my DVD player, the second disc kept skipping, and dropping frames.

So, we tried the disc in my laptop’s DVD player – and it worked just fine. My laptop is one of those new fangled toys, a complete multimedia station, with all the latest digital outs.

The trick was, figuring out which cables went to and from where to where. I have digital cable, so I have a multitude of spaghetti-type wires going from all my various components. To complicate matters, it isn’t well lit behind my home theatre station, so I had to grab a flashlight to see all the different ports.

Whoever’s bright idea it was to engrave black lettering on a black video/audio component should be hung by his or her private parts. Even under the bright glare of a flashlight, it’s still pretty hard to see what is what.

Still, being an old television-production geek, I knew the old rule – for every in there must be an out. Eventually, I managed to get everything wired just right – and we were able to watch the rest of the movie.

Though after the movie, I had to remove my laptop from the puzzle, and re-assemble everything. It didn’t take that long, but again I had to deal with a mess of spaghetti-strung cables, while reading black engraved text on black components.

It sort of reminded me of the old days, when VCRs were just starting to appear in people’s homes. I remember the loud sound hiss of static, and the grey snow which appeared on the screen when we hooked up our first VCR, all while the VCR’s clock continued to flash “12:00.” The sounds of my dad cursing and swearing could also be heard – probably clear across the neighbourhood, as he fumbled with poorly written instructions, and just as poorly labelled ports.

The grey hiss of static has long since been replaced with the so-called blue screen of death. You know something is out of alignment in audio/video land, when you see nothing but a blue screen.

Technology has progressed quite a bit over the years. Instead of using analogue-based video cassette tapes, everything is completely digital and often in high definition. These days people are more concerned with getting 1080p high definition than a four-head VCR.

Funny, in all this time, despite the technological advances, the manufacturers still can’t clearly label the ports on their boxes. Back in the days of VCRs, the terms may have differed, but they still just engraved those port names, much as they do today.

RCA cables make things somewhat easier, as they are color-coded (red, white, yellow and black), but if you are using an S-Video cable, or an optical digital cable, or an HDMI cable – or as in my case (and probably yours too) a combination of these cables – unless you have Superman’s X-Ray vision, finding the right port becomes quite the challenge.

Some companies do try to make things better – but only if you use nothing but their brand. High-end LG and JVC components have special “smart” ports, which are designed specifically for their hardware. Just plug in an LG television to an LG home theatre set and pretty much all you have to do is balance the audio and video signals, and you’re done. Same goes for JVC, and I think Panasonic and Sony have similar systems.

Problem is, if you have a mix-mash of components, say some JVC, some Sony and some from other vendors (like the digital cable box top), they don’t just plug and play as easily. Often they require quite a bit more tweaking to get things to work.

At least there’s no more hissing grey static to distract and annoy you while you tweak your JVC television, to your Sony home entertainment system. But sometimes, I miss that old familiar sound, and the flashing “12:00” too.

The Stink of Summer

We’re experiencing our first heat-wave of the summer here – and as the temperatures rise, so do many other things.

Often during hot summers in the city, we hear about smog alerts – but what about personal stink?

I was out and about today, and saw not one, but several people with big, ugly, stinky, wet sweat stains under their arms.

Personal care is – well – personal – but part of good grooming is making sure you don’t alienate or offend those around you.

I know not everyone likes to put chemicals on their bodies – some are even allergic. But there are natural alternatives these days, so there is no excuse for not wearing something to control excessive body stink.

There are medical conditions which cause people to sweat excessively – but then there are medications and special topical creams and ointments which solve the problem.

Maybe it is cultural, as these people, men and women, all seemed to be from an Indian/Pakistani background, and they weren’t all together – so they weren’t all part of the same family.

Even still, this is Canada, and cultural differences aside, we have specific standards and values here. Part of respecting another individual’s freedom is to not offend and alienate that person, at the very least by taking measures to not stink.

There is nothing worse than having to work in close quarters with someone whose body stench is so strong, you literally feel like each breath will be your last. And with all the products out there to prevent these things, there really is no reason why anyone should have this problem.

We have public decency laws in this country, which specify some basic ground rules to not impinge on another’s freedom. All naughty bits must be properly clothed – hence the often quoted “no shirt, no shoes, no service.”

These public decency laws even can be used to shush someone who is swearing out loud in public. So why don’t we have laws to control the body odour of another?

Some people put on way too much perfume or cologne. You can smell them miles away, and for hours after they have gone. That’s not always pleasant, but at least it smells better than stanky, sticky sweat.

It is one thing if were are working out together and get a little dirty in the field. It is quite another to go out without any protection and expect me, or anyone else, to accept your stink.

I think the public decency laws should be amended, to include bad odours and excessive sweat marks.

No one should ever have to tolerate another’s stink.

Words I Didn’t Grow Up To

When I was a kid, the world was a vastly different place.

Back then, it was safe to play outside with the other kids in the neighbourhood – we’d play ball hockey, tag, or even just go up to the park up the street.

Schools were also considered safe – all the doors were always open, and we could run and be free at recess and lunch times. It was even safe to walk home alone after school.

Today a high school was locked down, because someone brought a gun to school. The words “locked down” never existed in my childhood. But kids today are very accustomed to those words, when put together, say something has gone wrong in our society.

Teachers instruct their classrooms what to do in a lock down – to stay quiet, and keep away from the windows. The once open and free school – a pillar of focus in most communities – is now locked and closed.

We hear all the time about kids being abducted on their way to and from school, how neighbourhoods are no longer the safe places they once were and as is the case today, we hear about schools being locked down.

We live in a very different world than that world where I grew up. When I was a kid, the worst thing I can remember is a couple of other kids getting busted in the washroom for smoking cigarettes.

These days, kids bring guns to school to settle their differences – or maybe it’s for show and tell. But it tells a sad story about the so-called “progress” we have made in the last couple of decades.

Sure, it’s great our kids have access to things we never had before – such as the Internet, computers in the classroom, new teaching methodologies and theories and so on.

But when kids have access to guns, or have to be taught what a lock down is, that’s a different kind of progress – one we shouldn’t be proud of.

The fact that “lock down” has been added to the vocabulary of our youth in a way diminishes and takes something away from childhood.

Childhood is supposed to be a carefree time, where all the burdens of society don’t exist. Childhood should be a time for exploration, creativity, and most of all play.

But it is hard to imagine a playful childhood under a lock down. Pass the navy blue crayon, but do it quickly and quietly – we don’t want to get shot at.

Wish I Had Some Mafia-Type Heavy to Keep Me Employed

The signs of an economic slow-down are everywhere – housing prices are dropping, employment stats are dropping, and the major automakers are closing plants and laying off thousands of people.

Though all those people GM, Ford and Chrysler are laying off have one thing going for them most of us could only ever dream of – a bully to put some muscle on their bosses, to keep them employed.

For most of us, if the company we are working for unfortunately hits a financial conundrum, and we lose our job because the company has to lay us off, we say thanks for the memories, and move on.

Not if you are lucky enough to have a powerful union like the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) behind you. If you have the CAW behind you, then it doesn’t matter if your employer is so hurting for cash, that they have to sell off everything including the kitchen sink, your union will fight for you to ensure you still have a job.

I wish I had a someone fighting in my corner like that. Then I’d never worry about being unemployed, why would I have too – the union would flex it’s muscles and I’d be safe in it’s care.

Unions do some good for their members. If it wasn’t for unions, we’d all still be working for employers that didn’t care about our health and safety on the job. If it wasn’t for the union movement, benefits packages wouldn’t exist. If it wasn’t for unions, we’d probably work more days than we have off in a week. Oh wait, we still do . . .

But, when it comes to unions and job security, unions just don’t live in the real world. Granted, unions are there to protect their members, to ensure they get the best deals in employment and unemployment. But when the wheels of the economy fall off, and companies have to make tough choices, unions make unrealistic demands.

It is one thing to fight for good severance packages for those who must be let go. It is quite another to hold rallies and protest the closing of a plant or factory. We all have to make tough choices in our lives – and I’m sure it wasn’t easy for those executives at the top to choose who gets to keep their job and who gets the proverbial pink slip.

During an economic downturn as we are in, people stop purchasing big ticket items like cars and trucks. So naturally, the automakers will suffer – people can’t afford their products and services, so they don’t bring in the money they need to keep afloat.

Unions don’t appear to see it this way – they think the automakers are evil, have some sinister plan to the United States. They even got up the nerve to wear red t-shirts at a recent protest claiming Canadian-built cars are better.

Many cars are assembled in Canada, but as far as I know, Canada doesn’t have it’s own automaker.

General Motors, Ford and Chrysler are all American-born, and made. Up here in Canada, parts are shipped in from all over the world, and these American companies products are assembled here. But that really doesn’t make it a Canadian product.

Honda, Toyota, Mazda, Nissan, and Hyundai are all from countries outside of North America. Some of these are also assembled here in Canada from parts sourced around the globe, but none are truly Canadian-made.

If the automobile unions wanted to really benefit their members, they would lay off the unrealistic demands, and form their own Canadian auto manufacturing company. Then, they could realistically guarantee their members a route to job security, when one of them has major cutbacks – just transfer the jobs to their own Canadian company.

Then too, the real benefit, would be a truly Canadian-built car. One which wasn’t just assembled here, but really made here.

Now there’s a good Canadian idea.

A Language Test for Immigrants – It’s About Time

Canada is the best place on earth to live. We really do have it good here – we enjoy the freedoms of a democratic society, and for the most part we are pretty well respected by the most nations globally.

That love affair other nations have with this country has been a big problem here. We have been a haven for those who want to leave their country. Which in many ways is what makes this country so great.

Unlike other countries, we warmly welcome others here. But because of our freedom, we have failed to provide safeguards to ensure those who were born here don’t become second-class citizens, feeling left out among all the other nationalities calling Canada home.

We were the only country on the planet, where it didn’t matter if you didn’t read or speak either official language, you could still somehow get landed immigrant status, eventually getting official citizenship status, and living here for ever and ever.

We’re probably the only country in the world where that used to be possible – but no longer. Finally, our politicians are seeing the errors of their ways.

Our Canadian culture and values have suffered many years over, because we were a growing country of segregated people – each only living in their microcosms of their homeland.

Finally, the federal government has got off it’s butt, and created a language test for new arrivals to this great land. This language test will be offered in either official language (English or French) and those wishing to lay down their hat and call this great country home, must pass it.

It’s about time.

I was born here, raised here, and I still call this great country home. But over the years, I have often wondered who’s country I am in while walking down the street, taking a bus, or even meeting clients in an office. Far too many times, I have been made to feel like an outsider in my own country, simply because those all around me are speaking languages which aren’t native to this land.

Far too many places have signs up in their own language, but not in mine. Far too many people will ignore you, even snub you with evil grimaces, because you don’t speak their language – in your own country.

It’s about time our government protected this great land, by forcing those who come here to actually be here, rather than just setting up a mirror image of their country here.

It isn’t just a matter of national pride, or being Canadian, but has been an increasing safety concern too.

Could you even imagine driving a car in another country, but not being able to read the street signs? What about those warnings on food labels about allergies? When someone calls in any other language but English or French to 9-1-1 for an emergency, their call is routed to AT&T’s international translation offices New York City for translation. This transfer may be instantaneous, but the time it takes to translate the call, and then pass that translated information onto the emergency personal could cost someone their life.

It’s about time our government stopped being afraid of being politically incorrect, and did the right thing.

By implementing a language test for immigrants, they are doing just that – the right thing.

And it’s about time.

Living the Contractor’s Life

Wherever you go in today’s business world, you always are told time management skills are essential to succeed.

Time management – the ability to schedule enough time to complete everyday tasks – is essential in today’s business world.

Unless of course you have the luxury of hiring someone like me. I’m a consultant, a contractor, the person that saves your ass because you don’t have that one essential skill everyone – everyone – needs in today’s business world.

It’s exceptionally ironic when I meet with potential new clients, one of the many questions they ask me concerns my own time management, and just how well do I manage time. I find this ironic – no, I find it exceptionally ironic – because the very reason I am meeting with them in the first place, is because they themselves, or their team as a whole, has very poor time management skills – if any at all.

“Oh, it’s one of those things, you know – where we have a very tight deadline, but don’t have enough people on staff to complete it in time for the deadline,” they fess-up.

“In an ideal world, we’d be on track, but we need your help to get us back on track,” they may say.

“We’re well past our deadlines and need someone like you to put in whatever it takes to get us through this project,” they may say.

Funny, they never admit to their own failures when it comes to managing time, yet they seem to think someone on contract doesn’t mind cleaning up after their mess.

It’s a sound business theory, but not one of personal success. In business, if you can’t meet your deadlines, it isn’t all that uncommon to hire someone on a short-term, temporary basis, to assist. The theory continues, as the person is just a short-term, temporary contractor, it doesn’t matter if we put so much work on him or her, that he or she burns out. But we’d never put a staffer under so much excessive pressure – we’ve invested so much time and money in that staffer, we’d hate to lose that staffer.

So, my exceptional time management skills come under the real-world test, as I am called in to “do whatever it takes” to get the project back on track. “Whatever it takes,” is clever slang for “kill yourself putting in as much overtime as is humanly possible.”

Or so it feels that way – it would be nice to have at least one contract where they weren’t looking for a fixer-upper to repair their messed up project through excessive overtime. It would be awesome to actually be called into a project, which was properly managed, where they needed someone with my skills and expertise to add to the currently correctly managed project, rather than having to come into a situation which shouldn’t have happened in the first place.

Remember, time management is an essential skill for today’s business world – actually it is an essential skill in all life situations. People that are late for business meetings are probably just as late for dinner dates, movies and other social gatherings with friends and family.

Still, time management is the one skill seriously lacking in today’s world. Why this is really does boggle my mind – we’re constantly bombarded with the time.

All computers have a system clock, most people these days have cell phones, BlackBerrys, Palm Pilots, pagers, IPods, portable disc players, MP3 players, and then there is the good old fashioned wrist watch – they exist still – don’t they?

Televisions have built-in clocks, as do most VCRs, DVD players, digital cable and satellite boxes, microwaves, ovens, desk and cordless phones, alarm clocks, they even the time all the time on those 24-hour-all news television stations.

Time is something which is always all around us – so why are people constantly running out of time? Why am I always hired to bring a project back on time?

Time management isn’t rocket science – it is actually pretty easy to understand concept. And it is one of the most essential things which would certainly make my life a lot easier.

But hey, I charge a pretty hefty hourly rate – so go ahead – keep screwing up your time management. I’m always on time, and I have a lot of patience. Just remember – the meter is ticking . . .

Time to Wait

I hate waiting for others, which I sadly do quite often, because I’m always on-time

It’s funny, I’m a contractor, and I have no company loyalty to live up too. I don’t have to kiss anyone’s butt to get a promotion, I don’t have to kill myself putting in overtime if I choose not too – I’m on a contract. I don’t get all those fancy benefits, stock options, and other “perks” of being on staff – so I don’t have any ties to those who use my services other than the contracted time for which I’ve been hired.

Yet, despite my lack of loyalty to any one client for my job security, I am usually the one that does go the extra distance to get things done the right way ‘round the first time. I’m always on time – if not early – for meetings, and I don’t mind putting in the occasional overtime.

But those on the company payroll seem to feel too comfortable in their staff positions. They are always the last to come into a meeting – even if they called it themselves -- usually wading in five or more minutes late. The staffers are always out of the office first, many come in late in the morning and leave well before the business day is done. And often they slack off, waiting until the last minute to get things done, so that mistakes are made and items have to be re-done.

Good thing for us contractors – otherwise the corporate world would fall apart at the seams. I take pride in my work, and although I may not be bound and gagged to my employer, I still believe in putting my best foot forward.

Corporate culture is an interesting thing. Most management consultants will tell you the best way to see what a company’s staff thinks of their bosses, is to watch how they behave when their bosses are away.

From my observations, I’d say almost everyone hates their boss, or at the very least, doesn’t respect their boss enough to do an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay, when their boss is away.

Just about every office I’ve been in on contract – which is quite a lot because I have a lot of clients – is like this. When the managers and other higher ups are out of the office – say on lunch, out to meetings or just working from home – their staffs run around and gossip, hang out and chat about life with their colleagues, surf the net for another job (I have seen this with my own two eyes) even play cards – anything and everything but work.

The word “work” seems to disappear the second the boss does. Yet, whenever I’m sitting in on the numerous project meetings, and people are falling behind in their project deliverables, guaranteed the number one excuse is “we’ve just been so very busy.”

Yeah, you’ve been busy alright – goofing off! But of course, the boss doesn’t know this, because they weren’t around to see all of this card playing, chatting and the like.

I’m a big supporter of freedom of expression, and privacy, but maybe it’s time to install security cameras in more than just the entrances to offices. There usually are closed-circuit security cameras in lobbies, and elevator hallways, but maybe it is high time management video taped their staff while they were out doing work.

Granted, not everyone on staff goes off the deep end and starts to play, instead of work. But there are far more people goofing off when the boss is away, than there are those busy working on the things that need to be done.

As a contractor, it isn’t my place to tell management how to manage their staff. Although I have some say in how we manage the projects, and the resources allocated to those projects. But my hands are tied – if management is convinced that they have the right people on the project to get it done, than I can’t very well tell them otherwise. All I can do is advise them to place more people on the project to ensure we meet our deadlines.

But then, when the boss goes away, even those extra bodies we’ve added to the project decide to play. That is, unless management has the budget to bring on more contractors – we contractors generally don’t goof off.

Funny thing about corporate culture, even the non-managers sometimes think they can manage us contractors. Truth is they have no say whatsoever in our relationship with their workplace. All that legalize stuff goes through the contractor’s and the company’s lawyers – hence the term “contractor” because it is a legally binding contract by all sides.

Still, contractors have to always stay on the ball, because the staff is watching us. Though most of the time they watch us in fear – we’re not costing the company as much as the staff, yet we’re getting the work that they should be able to do, done.

Who needs to kiss ass, when the staffers are scared silly about losing their jobs? Though maybe if those staffers didn’t play like children every time their boss disappeared, they wouldn’t have to hire us contractors in the first place?

Products from Orient Not Up to Snuff

Things aren’t made like they used to be. When I was a kid growing up, we had an old Black and Decker toaster, it must of lasted at least 12 or 15-years before toasting it’s last slice of bread. The toaster we replaced it with, also a Black and Decker, started to show signs of wear only after a couple of years.

Manufacturers have learned it is good to make things last – but if they last forever, they will lose money, because no one will need to buy their products anymore.

Not so with products which carry the infamous “Made in China” label. For many years, we’ve come to expect these products to not last as long as other products, but we get a cheaper product.

Problem is, that lack of concern for quality in the guise of a lower price has now become part of a dangerous trend, towards inferior products which have caused death.

Late last year, pet food made in China was recalled, because it contained anti-freeze in it. Hundreds of dogs and cats across North America died, because their owners opted for a cheap pet food. But some of the blame should be shouldered by the companies which farm out their products to factories in China – because they are the ones which are creating dangerous goods.

Yesterday, Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency announced two separate recalls, which again involve products from China that can kill you.

Health Canada announced a recall involving Chinese-made toys, which can harm our kids. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency made a recall for beef and beef products which have E. coli bacteria in it – also from China. E. coli can kill.

Many have petitioned the federal and provincial governments, asking for an outright ban on products from China. So far, our politicians haven’t had the guts to do the right thing – and ensure the public safety by banning Chinese-made goods.

But we are all consumers and we can take things into our own hands. By refusing to purchase products made in China, we protect the lives of our friends, our family and ourselves.

More often than not, you get what you pay for. Products from China are cheaper, but is cheaper good – when your life and those of the lives of the people you care about are at risk?

It is hard to find things which aren’t made in China. And in some cases we may never know. Something may be made in Canada, but have parts made in China. But at least if we try to avoid things which proudly advertise they are made in an inferior manufacturing environment, perhaps we will not panic, when the government announces yet another recall carrying the “Made in China” moniker.

You can also avoid buying products from companies that have factories in China. And you can also write your federal, provincial and municipal politicians. If we put enough pressure on them, maybe we can save lives.

Hard Times – Beer Prices Increase

You know we’re in an economic slump when beer prices go up. One could argue that beer is our national beverage – like hockey is our national sport.

Beer brewers are blaming droughts in Europe for the increase. The key ingredient in beer is hops. And most Canadian brewers import their hops from Europe. With the droughts over the past couple of years, hops is in short supply.

Add in the increases in oil prices and it costs more to ship all those hops over here.

So beer prices may go up by a couple of bucks.

The problem is more than a matter of costly suds. World economic conditions aren’t what they used to be – the costs of living constantly increase, while wages remain relatively the same, if not in some cases even going down.

I blame the oil tycoons in the Middle East. By constantly raising the price of crude oil, they set in motion increases across the board for everything else.

The oil tycoons – through their company’s spokespeople – claim oil prices go up, because demand goes up. They claim they sell their products just like everyone else does, in the supply-demand model.

Oil demand has increase over the years, but if all the increases are really due to supply-demand issues, how come oil companies constantly beat their previous year’s records for profit? In a true supply-demand model, the profits would be reflective of the supply and demand curve – yet they usually beat this curve.

Corporate and personal greed is what is driving up oil prices. Those who have a controlling stake in these companies just want more money. And who can blame them?

We live in a world where those with money have power, and those without money are powerless.

Statistics Canada recently said that the gap between the rich and the poor is widening even further – it has been growing since the 1990s.

So those with money will have more money, but those without money will never have the chance to have.

Makes me wish for a Star Trek-like universe, where money isn’t what drives people. In the ideal lore of Star Trek, people are motivated by exploration, and the constant desire to improve themselves and their worlds.

But we don’t live in a Star Trek universe, and there probably will always be an economic engine driven by dollars and cents.

Which is really tragic in many ways, because the accumulation of wealth may bring happiness to those who can achieve it, but to those without, they will lead lives of misery, desperation, and destitution. And that’s not really much of a life, when you think about it.

E-Books Just Aren’t the Same

I’ve downloaded a couple e-books recently – books in PDF format for reading online. When e-books first came out, they were thought to be more economical and easier to read.

Unlike traditional print-based books, there is no need to spend extra money printing, binding and shipping them. So the cost of e-books is significantly cheaper.

They were also designed to be easier to read online – so that you don’t have to use a bookmark to keep your spot.

The downside with e-books, sitting in front of a computer monitor all day reading one just isn’t as comfortable as snuggling up on the sofa or in bed with a nice paper-based book.

Sure e-books are better for the environment – as they save paper. But I can print these e-books, which would probably consume more paper than had they been printed originally, as my printer would print single sided pages (most books are double-sided).

I know, we spend so much time online, typing, working, and playing games, that reading books online is the next logical step.

But there is something to be able to hold a book, to turn it’s pages, even to put it down in haste when the phone rings and have to go back and flip around to find out where you left off.

When computers first came out, people were making sweeping predictions about just how much of a time saver they would be. Some predicted we’d have shorter work weeks, use far less paper, and even get paid more, because we’d all be more efficient.

In walks reality, and paper use is at an all time high, the work week is still the same – if not longer thanks to the ability to check email and login remotely from any location, even home – and wages haven’t really changed all that much over the past decade.

E-books are a time saver when it comes to ordering them. Once you order it, instead of waiting for the print-based book to come to your door, you simply download it and in a matter of minutes, you have your book. But that is about as much of a benefit as I could find in these electronic books.

I have a laptop, and even taking my laptop to the bed to read isn’t nearly as comfortable as just lying in bed with a good old fashioned paper-based book.

Imagine taking an e-book to the beach? I’d probably be taking my laptop to the tech support guys, asking how do you remove sand from the keyboard and plug-in ports?

I’ve tried e-books, but I’ll stick to a good print-based book any day.

A Lazy Man’s Strike

The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) is on strike. The TTC is the largest transit system in Canada, and one of the largest in the world, keeping over 1.5 million people in pace with their lives.

Most unions, when they stage a labour walk-out – AKA a strike – they not only stop working, but they stage a protest in front of their bosses. These protests usually come complete with angry workers, marching in circles, yielding signs in protest, while chanting some sort of slogan of protest against unfair wages, job security and the like.

Not so with the largest transit union in Canada – they are too lazy to get out on the picket lines and march as every other labour union has done in the past. No sir – there aren’t even picket lines to march in!

The TTC’s way of getting their bosses to listen to their labour demands? Displace those 1.5 million daily people who use the system, by simply taking time off with pay. Grant it, strike pay is far less than they make while working, but isn’t the whole point of a strike – well – to strike?

The TTC is an essential service – like the police, the fire and the ambulance – they keep Toronto moving. By providing a much needed life-line for those who depend on their service, they ensure people get to their jobs, so they can afford to live. Those who do have cars also take the TTC. Car pooling is common – and many of those car pools take people to the subway, so they don’t have to park downtown.

The TTC also provides another essential service – helping keep Canada’s busiest city from being stuck in traffic. There is always traffic in Toronto. But when the city’s buses, streetcars and subways stop rolling, the traffic more than doubles – making it nearly impossible for anyone – even those on foot – to get anywhere, anytime fast.

So, the TTC has the ability to get it’s labour unrest messages out without having to actually do anything – they just take the lazy way out and take a paid holiday.

I wish I could do that – hell I bet you could too. I want a raise, so I’ll just stay home and watch TV all day. Yeah – that’ll work.

The TTC’s employees do an amazing job when they do it. But when they don’t – they do just as an amazing job – more like mind numbing – who else can take a paid holiday when they decide they aren’t being paid enough?

The problem is the union is far too powerful, the city too dependent, and the workers too blinded by the scale of their city. The workers have a false sense of security, thinking that because they drive buses in the biggest city in Canada, they should be paid and treated like royalty.

I hate to point out the obvious, but they are JUST bus drivers! No one goes to university to become a bus driver, just like no one goes to college to become a garbage collector, a telemarketer, or any of a bunch of blue collar jobs.

Yes the TTC is an essential service, and yes it should be declared one – finally – so that the city doesn’t fall into the spirals of commuter chaos every time the union wants more.

But, I think it is also time that the TTC’s workers be reminded of their role. If they want to make more than a bus driver can make, maybe they should do what the rest of us do when we want to make more money – find another career!

Instead of raising fares, cutting repairs and killing routes to pay egomaniacs more money to simply drive a bus, the TTC should provide worker education programs so that bus drivers can become more than just that, and the city can continue to move and grow.

Sometimes, Even Adults Need a Good Spanking

The largest city in Canada is enduring more labour unrest with it’s transit union. Though this time, things have turned ugly.

The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) has gone on strike. Nothing ugly about that – except that everyone had thought the issue had been resolved last week, and a labour walk out was averted.

Turns out, although the city and the union bosses came to an agreement, when the union boss presented the agreement to the over 9,000 members – they turned him down.

Yes – I did say him. As in the union’s president. The whole process of collective bargaining begins and ends with your union’s president. If the president is well respected, then the members will follow his lead – after all he’s looking out for you and your interests.

However, if the union president isn’t seen as a true representative of the union’s membership, then things go wrong.

And they did go very wrong last night – the TTC shut down all busses, streetcars and subways immediately at midnight – stranding thousands of unsuspecting people.

Originally, the union bosses said they’d give everyone 48-hours notice of a possible strike. But last night, they didn’t give even a second’s notice of warning – they just shut the whole system down.

I sympathize somewhat with the union bosses – they probably had no choice in the issue. Their members decided to walk immediately, and they had to follow. Problem is, because of union discontent within itself, they have lost faith in the public sphere.

Politicians are already working on laws to legislate the workers back to work, and they will then probably declare (finally!) the service an essential service, forever preventing future strikes. Those that rely on the TTC and are sick and tired of dealing with these labour disputes every three-years are understandably pissed off. And even those that don’t use the TTC are upset – they have to deal with the burden caused by more cars on the roads.

Though the real villain here is the union’s chief – the TTC’s union boss. He’s failed his union – obviously, they didn’t accept his offer – he’s failed his city, and worse, he’s failed to keep the peace between his union and those who depend on public transit for their daily lives.

From the beginning I never liked the union boss. At the start of the labour unrest, he always came off sounding like a dictator, ordering the city to give in to his ridiculous demands, or else he’ll tell his members to go on strike.

Throughout the negotiations, he has publicly humiliated himself, by acting like a child in desperate need of a spanking.

First he said he couldn’t work with one of the city’s negotiators, and requested by name a city councillor who happens to also be chair of the TTC, to replace him. Then he said the only person that could save the talks and prevent a strike would be the mayor of Toronto himself.

Most of us don’t get to choose who we work with – we don’t always make the hiring or firing decisions at the office, so whoever does what we need done, is it. Adults put personal differences aside, and get the job done, regardless of what we think of each other.

Perhaps the TTC’s union couldn’t stand working with their union boss any longer, and his childish temper tantrums? Perhaps the TTC union just said, f*ck this, we’re going on strike now – deal with it.

And now we all have to deal with it in Toronto. Those who depend on the TTC to get around have no means to go from point A to B. Those who drive, have to face longer traffic tie-ups, as more and more people use their own cars, instead of taking public transit. And those in desperate need of emergency services – like police, fire or ambulance – better start praying, because traffic tie-ups translate into longer travel times for everyone – including those that need to get to you immediately for life and death.

Closing Schools Bad Is Bad for all Canadians

Enrolment in publicly funded schools across the country is at an all time low. Politically motivated – and politically correct – politicians tell us this is because of declining birth rates.

As politicians close more and more of our public schools, despite protests from those whose kids attend those buildings of learning, they remind us that it’s because their just aren’t enough children anymore.

The truths about declining enrolments is partly linked to lower birth rates, however, there is an even bigger and more obvious reason. Though it isn’t politically correct to admit it – immigration is the real bane to our public school’s problems.

Canada has always welcomed those from other countries with open arms. We live in the best country in the world, why not share our way of life with others?

Problem is we Canadians are exceptionally weak when it comes to maintaining our way of life. We allow those that come here to rape us, using the fundamental freedoms which we hold close and dear as weapons against us.

Our freedoms allow people to practice their culture, their way of life, here – as they should. However, those rights shouldn’t be allowed to negate the ways others choose to live – but they do.

Immigrants come to our great land, move into neighbourhoods with others from their homeland, set-up communities – no, they set-up mirror images of their homeland – complete with their own restaurants, stores, religious centres, community centres and schools.

Each immigrant group settles into its own microcosm of its own cultural community – from Little Italy, China Town to Greek Town. Each immigrant community sends their kids to schools built exclusively for those in their own narrow-focused community.

Italian kids go to Italian school, Chinese to Chinese school and so on.

Canadian kids, go to the public schools – just as their parents did. Problem is, as Canadians are having fewer kids, there aren’t enough kids in Canadian schools to justify keeping them open.

Think the Chinese school will open its doors with open arms to the Canadian kids?

Fat chance. These schools must teach the basics as dictated by the government, such as reading, writing, and arithmetic, but then they are allowed (thanks to our freedom of speech) to also teach culturally-specific subjects – and charge admission for such courses.

I hear co-workers and colleagues all the time talking about how they have to pay extra to send their kids to these culturally-centric schools. They start out complaining about the cost, but then justify it in the end, by bad mouthing the Canadian school system.

“They wouldn’t learn anything about Slovenia in a public school.”

“They don’t get to play with kids from back home in Canadian schools.”

“It’s good for them to learn from others who were there.”

But it’s bad for our country, as it propagates the ultimate problem we have with immigration – intolerance.

Immigrants come over here to escape the repression and intolerance they have in their own countries. Many would be jailed or executed if they were to express their opinions about their governments in their native land.

Yet, once they get here and realize they have unlimited freedom of expression, they create just as intolerant a state, only in reverse. By creating pockets of communities, which have little or no interaction outside of their own culturally-specific circles, they create intolerance towards anyone not from their homeland.

It is pure and simple racism – and our Canadian way of life is dying because of it.

I'm Too Important to Answer the Phone

In business, the telephone is probably one of the most common forms of communication. Sure there is email, text messaging, video conferencing – one could even make the argument that we don’t get up and simply walk over to our co-worker’s cubicles enough these days.

But the telephone is still the primary means of communication. It is cheaper than videoconferencing, easier than a text message, and more personal than an email.

Still, some people don’t get it – ever. They never answer their phone. I deal with many people at many levels at many different organizations. Most people answer their phones when they can.

Often I get voice-mail, which is understandable. We’re all busy and we simply aren’t tethered to our desks all day to answer every call. But when you call someone back several times throughout the day, and each time all you get is their voice-mail, it makes you wonder why that person even has a phone?

It may be that the individual is truly over-worked, and simply doesn’t have enough time to take phone calls. Or, it could be that the person thinks they are too important to answer the phone, and want to only talk to people when they call back on their time. Or, it could be the person wants you to think they are so high up in the corporate food chain, that they are unreachable.

Whatever the reason someone never answers their work phone, it indicates a severe problem within that person’s office, which is probably deep routed within that company’s corporate culture.

Ah, here we go again – talking about corporate culture.

Corporate culture is an important element in today’s business environment. All offices have their similarities – they all have desks, phones, computers, people – but the interactions of all things in the office – that’s corporate culture. And corporate culture can vary significantly from one office to another – even within the same company.

Corporate culture is the unwritten law of the land – all the things which people just do at the office, because everyone else does them. They can be good things, like being extremely anal about the quality of work turned out, to bad things, like abusing casual hours or dress.

In one office I worked, for example, one of the elements of the corporate culture was that people abused their casual work hours. There were no hard and fast rules written down that said you must be at the office at 9am and leave at 5pm. The only rule written was you must but in at least a standard eight-hour day. Many had made informal arrangements with their managers to come in early so that they can leave early. Some (usually the managers) would come in late to stay late (and avoid rush hour traffic).

Regardless of what their agreed upon hours were, no one really ever put in an eight-hour day. Those who arranged to come in early to leave early, often came in well past their agreed upon time – but they always left at their agreed upon time.

Managers would come in late, but instead of leaving late, they’d leave at the usual end of the working day.

This abusive nature was okay – because it was embedded into the company’s corporate culture. It actually isn’t okay, it indicates a problem at the executive levels within the organization when it comes to maintaining order and structure. But as the executives didn’t want to provide that much needed structure – it was accepted as just the way things work.

This brings us back to those people who never seem to answer their phones. It is probably accepted as their corporate culture goes, that people just don’t take the time to answer their phones. But at a higher level within the company, someone has obviously dropped the ball, because there is something missing from a leadership perspective, which has caused the corporate culture to allow for this poor use of a major form of business communications.

When I worked for that company where people abused the casual work hours, my biggest problems were all tied to it. It was nearly impossible to schedule meetings, as the key individuals were never all around at the same time. Deadlines would come and go without the necessary work being done, because people weren’t around. Projects would then be rushed, to catch up on all those missed deadlines. Getting information for projects and other work related tasks was also pretty hard, as people were never around.

People who don’t answer their phones are avoiding others – be it inside their office, or worse, people that depend on them but are outside of their office. This makes it extremely hard, if not impossible to work with these individuals, as they aren’t around – and don’t make themselves available to be around – for work.

Corporate culture isn’t all bad. It’s nice to be able to wear blue jeans on Fridays. It’s great when they order in cakes and sing you “happy birthday” on your birthday. It is even a great way to motivate and mentor people, when the corporate culture allows it.

But when corporate culture is bad, it is very bad – not just for the office which has the negative office behaviours, but for anyone that has the unfortunate need to work with that office.

I’ve turned down contracts, refused to work with some companies, and even terminated contracts with clients whose corporate culture is detrimental to the business work flow process.

Going Green or Brown?

In the heat of political turmoil of the 1960’s and 1970’s, the environmental movement began.

Back then, hippies smoked grass while wandering barefoot on grass, to protest everything under the guise of protecting Gaia – aka Mother Earth.

In the heyday of the 1980’s economic boom, companies began to realize they too can turn a profit by jumping on the environmental band wagon. Everything old was new again, as it was suddenly labelled “environmentally-friendly” or “eco-friendly” or simply “green.”

These days, you have to be careful what you shop for, because most things sold as being “green” are really “brown” as in the color of bullshit.

Clever advertising has always targeted our most heartfelt feelings. From the warm and fuzzy “reach out and touch someone” advertising campaign from AT&T in the 1980’s, to the just as famous “something special in the air” campaign of American Airlines, also in that time period, to the witty “I’m a Mac, and I’m a PC” commercials for Apple’s computers these days.

By labelling something as “green” it also caters to our feelings. We all want to be somewhat more environmentally-friendly. We’ve all heard about the constant rise of global temperatures, the failing ice sheets in the Arctic, even the sorrows of the baby seal population during the seal hunt.

Clearly, saying something is “green” adds an element of marketability.

Problem is, not everything being sold under the “green” banner really is all that green in the first place.

Pizza Pizza claims their pizza boxes are made from recycled paper products, and even claims some outrageously high number of trees saved by their recycling efforts. But they fail to say just how much of their pizza box is made from recycled fibres. For all we know, it could be as low as one-percent – and that just doesn’t seem all that green to me.

There are many other companies all touting similar claims, yet how environmental are they really?

It is time us consumers – and we all buy things so we’re all consumers – demanded greater accountability when it comes to all things green. Before simply handing over our hard earned dollars for a supposedly “green” product – ask questions.

Just how much of that box is made from recycled materials, and how much is new paper matter?

What else do you do to promote environmental-friendly products?

How is using this green product really going to help the environment?

If we continue to blindly buy products which are sold as “green” we’re no better than the blind leading the blind. We’re being raped – as our home, mother earth is. Yet we feel better, because we THINK we’re buying products and services which do not harm the earth – but they may have little to no real environmental gains.

So, next time you’re going green – think and ask first.

Just Say No to Plastic Boobs

We’ve seen the problems in silicone breast implants in the mid 1980’s. When these fake breast implants are improperly “installed,” they can leak, and cause serious injury leading to death.

These days, fake boobs are safer, thanks to laws put in place to ensure they are correctly used. But how are these things being disposed of?

If the silicone inside a fake breast can cause death in humans, what happens with all those breast implants that are simply tossed away?

Laugh not said the spider to the fly – as you ask yourself who’s going to toss away their bigger, bouncier self-image?

Look at Canada’s living Barbie Doll – Pamela Anderson. Pamela Anderson has had several breast increases and reductions. She’s changed her breast size more times than most people have their tires rotated on their cars.

What happens to all those fake breasts?

Why am I asking this?

No, I don’t have a breast fetish.

The provincial government here, along with other various governments, is thinking seriously about banning plastic bags from landfill sites.

Plastic bags, like most things artificially produced, take forever to break-down in garbage dumps. It can take several hundred years for plastic bags to make it to the ashes to ashes, and dust to dust stage – if ever.

This is due to the nature of most plastics, and why most plastics these days are recycled. Those PET plastic bottles used for pop would take even longer than a plastic bag to break down, simply because of the chemical composition of the plastics.

There simply isn’t enough sun, heat and moisture in a landfill site, to decompose artificially made plastics.

These days, most breast implants are saline (aka salt water) so they do believe it or not – break down in a landfill site. Though the plastic liners that hold all that salt water may last quite a while before becoming dust.

Plastics are a problem, yet we rely so heavily on plastics in our daily use. This computer I type on has loads of plastic parts – from the materials used in the keyboard, to the various wires, sockets, and joints, to who knows what else is lurking inside.

Banning plastic bags from landfill sites is a start, but there is so much more out there, it would be impossible to prevent all plastics from entering our dumps.

We use plastics in everything from the containers used to hold blank CD/DVD spindles, to the plastic containers used by fast food places for delivery, to the plastics used in drinking straws – plastic is everywhere.

If governments were serious about creating solutions to eliminating plastics from landfill, they’d be working on funding research into other materials, while banning plastics from use throughout all other manufacturing.

Though in some ways, every little bit does help. Banning plastic bags will reduce landfill use somewhat, as plastic bags are the most common type of garbage bag used. But, there needs to be more done, to keep all plastics from our landfills.

Maybe we can take a lesson from breast implants. We need a salt water solution, somehow.

The Power if Soaking it Out

I have a confession to make – I’m a slob when it comes to eating messy food. Watch out if you’re within sprayable distance while I’m eating ribs, wings, pizza – you’re bound to get some of the sauce on ya.

I do try to be careful, and generally speaking, I don’t make that much of a mess.

Pass the wet nabs, please. . .

I guess messy eaters are generic. My dad is also a messy eater. Whenever I have my family over for dinner, wherever he was sitting is always the messiest.

Last night, I had the family over for dinner. I enjoy our family dinners – it gives me a chance to catch up with the people important in my life.

We had a great meal, watched some movies, and talked. Then came the clean-up afterwards. What a mess!

The placemats were covered in pretty much everything we ate – and some things I don’t remember ever seeing!

What to do?

How do you get a concoction of chocolate mouse, ketchup, mustard, cole slaw, juice, iced tea, and other things I couldn’t even identify out of placemats?

I took all the placemats, and covered them in liquid laundry detergent. I let them just sit and soak in this stuff for about 20-minutes. Then I added in hot water and stirred them like I was a witch making a caldron of some sort of secret potion. I let the water and soap potion soak for an hour.

Then I rinsed and hung to dry. I couldn’t see any stains, but I figured, that’s because it hadn’t dried on. I was anxious to check back in the morning to see how well my cleaning efforts worked.

Surprise and joy – no stains were found! My witches brew did the job – all the food stuffs that were stuck on were gone. I think these even look like new placemats!

So, the solution to the messy eating gene is a good soaking in soapy water. Now if only they can cure baldness so easily!

The Politeness of Lying

Every day, we face numerous choices – do I wear brown pants or black? Do I have cereal for breakfast, or do I want to make toast?

Sometimes though, the hardest choices require us to lie. Though I find, it is best to say nothing at all, rather than to bend the truth.

“We’ll call by the end of the week regardless of our decision to move ahead or not, just to let you know,” said one potential client last Monday.

It’s Sunday and I still haven’t heard anything – and I probably never will. The person told me a white lie, because she was too much of a coward to tell the truth.

I’m a coward too – but I handle things more professionally.

I don’t always call back someone I have no intention of doing business with – but then again, I never make promises I can’t keep. I just say if we’re interested, we’ll be in touch. If I am interested, I’ll call – if I’m not, I don’t call.

But I don’t string people along, telling them I’ll call, when in fact I have no intention of ever calling that person – that’s just wrong.

But sadly, the wrong way seems to prevail in the business world.

I can somewhat sympathize with this attitude. I remember a time not that long ago, when I felt obligated to tell someone that we had chosen another service provider for one of our systems contractors. I had worked for this contractor before, and as I knew the higher-ups, felt it was my duty to tell them the bad news. We chose the other contractor because the fit was better – we didn’t have anything against my former contractor.

Still, when I called and politely told them we went with someone else, they were about to rip my head off – thinking I had taken a personal swing at them or something!

I told them it wasn’t personal, and I don’t make all the decisions myself – there are some things out of my control. But still, the person on the other end of the phone acted as if they had expected to win the contract, simply because I had worked for them in the past.

It taught me a valuable lesson – some of us are poor winners, some of us are great winners, but most of us are pretty shitty losers.

Since this life lesson, I have learned when dealing with contract bids, to never make a promise to call anyone back – ever. I only say I’ll be in touch if we’re interested. They may follow-up with a “oh, but you can call us to let us know right?”

I’ll just smile and repeat the part about calling if we’re interested. They may hear it – they may not. But that’s the way the water falls.

It keeps me from outright lying and saying I’ll call, when in fact I may not. And it keeps me from having to take the brunt of someone’s temper tantrum, when they don’t get what they think they deserve – which in most cases is when you don’t get what you want.

Does Anyone Actually Read Online Advertisements?

We see them all the time when we surf the web. Those banner advertisements that try and hook us with cute cartoon animals, sexy models, and larger than life font sizes.

They often flash boldly “Click Me” or “Click Here” but does anyone actually ever do?

In our information soaked world, we are literally bombarded by advertisements everywhere we look. On busses and their shelters, on billboards, on television, the radio and on just about every web page – we see nothing but ads.

There are even ads now in many bathroom stalls. So, while you are taking a moment to do some very personal business, you can carefully consider whether or not you want to purchase a new cell phone, buy a car, or rent that new movie.

I think we’ve become so accustom to seeing advertisements wherever we look, that we more often than not, simply tune most of them out. There are the occasional ones which slip past the radar, but for the most part we ignore the marketed world around us.

Rarely do I click on any of the advertisements at the top of web pages – yet I see them every day when I check the latest headlines, check different email accounts, or simply do a search for something or other.

I think, in order for an online banner ad to really catch my interest, I’d have to receive an electric shock just as the words zoomed out.

Surely I can’t be alone – there must be others unaffected by the constant sales pitches, marketing slogans, and gimmicks attacking us wherever we go.

And make no mistake about it – we are under attack.

Everything is up for sale these days. I remember a time when the Internet – back in the day, it was referred to by it’s true name – The World Wide Web – was free. There were no ads demanding to be clicked.

You just typed in the web address you wanted to go to, and within seconds, you’d be taken there. No ads, none of those annoying pop-ups, pop-unders, or my all time hated – the “Your X content will load after this commercial.”

Those are pure torture, used most often on video feeds (like MSN’s most watched videos). You see a headline you want to watch, and immediately after clicking it, a video loads.

But it isn’t the video you wanted, it is an advertisement – with a small disclaimer saying your selected video will appear after the commercial. They even have a little button you can click to “skip” the ad – but these buttons never work. I know – I’ve tried.

Then there are those ads that the second the web page loads, pop-up in front of you. You’re only cure to these is to click the “close” button or the “X” in the corner. Both methods work, but still, you are slightly pissed by the sudden pop-up in the first place.

I miss the days of old, where the Internet was free. But I suppose, everything costs something and someone has to pay for it. So eventually, the free-for-all Internet would be bought out by the corporate world and sold to the highest bidders.

To bad the highest bidders don’t know how to really market their services and products to us web-savvy surfers that don’t click those ads. Because those ads just waste everyone’s time.

Dependencies on Silicone Sally

“Hi, I’m not here right now, but please leave your name, number and a message at the tone . . .”

Voice-mail is an irksome necessity in today’s society. Everyone has a phone – most have more than one. Even teenagers have cell phones these days. When I was a kid growing up, only doctors, lawyers and the very wealthy had pagers – cell phones were the stuff of sci-fi.

Problem with our digital world, is although we all have a means to connect instantly with someone, no one is ever around to answer.

Sure, if I don’t recognize a number, I’ll most likely let the call go to voice-mail. But that’s become a necessary evil in today’s world.

With telemarketers, automated diallers and other advances in reaching out to harass, answering a call from an unknown number is like sticking your fingers into an electrical outlet. You don’t know if you’ll get a big shock, a little shock – or no shock at all.

Though, some people just never answer their phones at all. They live and die by their voice-mail. They are too busy – or want everyone else to think they are too busy – to actually pick up their phone. So, you play a never ending game of telephone tag.

Then there are emails and text messages. I never could get the hang of text messages. Keypads on cell phones are so small, it takes me forever to press-out even the shortest text message. And in many ways, it sort of defeats the whole purpose – why send someone a text message when you can just call them?

But then again, you may get their voice-mail, and be back where we started!

Open House Leads to Close Quarters

My gym has regular open houses to bring in new members. They usually hold them on long holiday weekends, where anyone can go in, and check out the facilities. Also during the open houses, members are encouraged to bring their friends and family as guests.

Gyms traditionally oversell their memberships. Most people that sign up at a gym don’t really know much about working out, and really haven’t ever been a member of a gym. They tour the facilities, see beautiful, healthy people working out, and think that if they join, they too will be fit.

Problem is, if you don’t enjoy going to the gym, you won’t. As with anything voluntary, if you don’t like it, you usually won’t do it. There are lots of ways to stay fit and to be active. But most people that join a gym are looking for a quick fix, rather than taking their time to explore their options.

Gyms themselves also compound the problem by forcing people to buy into one-year long contracts. They do usually offer shorter contracts, or even monthly ones, but these they price well above the cost of a one-year contract. And with these one-year contracts, typically once you’ve taken the time to workout and realize it isn’t for you, you’re stuck – unless you buy out the rest of the contract, which can cost quite a bit.

Back to the open house concept – my gym will hold regular open houses, luring in people en mass to sign up on one-year contracts. Most will come for a month, maybe two months max, and then quit. They are still paying for their monthly memberships – their contracts go for a year, but they just don’t like working out in a gym to go.

Problem for those of use who do enjoy working out at a gym, is for a couple of months after the open house, we regulars are cramped. All those people the gym management count on not showing up, do show up for the first month or two.

Yesterday my gym held a big open house party. They had a live DJ, contests, give-a-ways, free food and drink. They also signed up a lot of people who were eager to drop some weight, but probably won’t last for more than a month or two.

Today, I went to do my usual biceps and triceps workout at the gym. It was a chaotic mess! There were simply too many people in the building to even traverse the stairs safely.

I managed to get a locker right away, but had to wait a couple of minutes for an exercise bike to do my warm-up. The stretching room with the mats and Swiss Balls was also jammed with people. I moved a few of the stretching machines which no one was using, to create a little floor space for me.

Then, I had to be creative to get the weights and equipment I needed to do my usual workout. I had to do things slightly out of their usual order, so that I could do them. I just grabbed whatever I could use when it was available – and I made sure once I had a workout bench, I didn’t give it up until I had finished.

After my weight routines, I go to my cardio – but none of the cardio machines were free! I went back down to the weight room, and focused on some hips and thighs for a while. Then I managed to get onto an eclipse machine.

The steam room which I use to relax and sooth exhausted muscles after a good workout was also overly crowded. But at least I managed to find a corner and just relax and enjoy the steam.

I suppose this will continue for the next couple of months. But as new members grow tired of the gym, they will slowly stop coming, and then I’ll be able to really workout without having to worry about being crowded out.

Hewlett Packard’s Mischievous Spyware

A little while back I bought myself a sleek new Hewlett Packard laptop. It’s a great machine, my only complaint is the virus known as Microsoft Windows Vista it came invested with.

Windows Vista is the worst operating system I have ever used, in my over 20-years of working with computers and their operating systems.

I’m slowly working out solutions for Vista’s many bugs (Microsloth calls these “features”) and then a new one pops up from HP itself.

For the past couple of days, every so often I’d get an annoying pop-up window asking me if I had purchased an extended service contract from HP. I don’t usually purchase these things, as I find they cost too much, and they usually run out just as everything needs to be replaced anyway.

The first time this pop-up hit me, I figured by clicking the “Not interested” option, would make it disappear, never to be seen again.

I was wrong – it appeared again later that day. So, I clicked “not interested” and thought that must be the end of that.

Nope. It kept popping up ever so often and no matter which option I chose, it would re-appear later on.

So, being the computer geek that I am, I did some thinking as to why this might be happening.

I immediately ran a full system virus check, and spyware check – though I run these daily anyways, maybe something recently hacked my system.

Nothing turned up – so I was safe in some regards. Viruses and spyware are nasty things to find, and just as nasty to remove.

Turns out, eventually I found the cause of this nagging popup, and it sure surprised me. It was an intentional ploy from HP to get me to contact them.

Within the control panel for Windows, there is a section called “Task Scheduler” which allows you to automate various system routines. I use the Task Scheduler to automate virus scans, hard drive optimizations and other routine maintenance tasks.

I found that HP had pre-configured my Task Scheduler with three tasks, designed to go off automatically after a set period of time, and continue non-stop every 30-minutes until deleted by the user!

Most people don’t venture into the Task Scheduler on their own, so HP would probably get a call from every customer, asking about how come their brand new computer keeps asking them to sign up for an extended service plan. This way, even if you don’t want to talk to them about why you don’t need it or want it, you have to call them to find out how to disable their nag message.

Or at least, that appears to be their ploy. It didn’t work on me, because I do know a lot about computers, Windows, and I was able to disable it myself.

However, I was shocked to find that a major systems manufacturer would stoop to such an unethically low level, to lure in more money from their already paying customers.

I paid a good piece of change for my laptop – so they’ve already received my share of revenue. I know they make more on service contracts, but to slip in their own version of malicious code into their own machines is pure evil.

Although their nag program does no harm to the computer, it is still malicious code – it nags you every half-hour regardless of what you do. The only way to disable it, is to delete it from the Task Scheduler.

So, you could be playing your favourite game, writing a report for work, chatting with a friend online, or anything else, and all of a sudden, you’d be interrupted with a window which you’d see again, and again, and again.

We all have heard talk about the big evil corporations out there, out for world domination. Maybe we should add Hewlett Packard to that list of evil mega corporations hell bent on dominating the world?