Why The World Needs Another Hero

What do. John A. MacDonald. John F. Kennedy, and Winston Churchill have in common? Aside from all being former leaders of their respective nations – Canada, the USA and Great Britain – they were all exceptional heroes.

Real heroes – not the like Batman, Superman or Wonder Woman. Although comic book heroes have their place, real heroes like MacDonald, Kennedy and Churchill accomplish really great things.

They motivate people to change, to become better than they are, and to improve the world around them.

Throughout history, we’ve seen living examples of real heroes, and not all of them politicians. Princess Dianna was one – always striving to save the world, despite enormous pressures from a British Royalty that really didn’t care about anything but themselves. Steven Spielberg may be considered a hero of sorts, by showing us who and what we are, through his films.

But none of the heroes of today, has even come close to what MacDonald, Kennedy or Churchill in terms of heroic acts.

MacDonald was one of Canada’s founding Prime Ministers, shaping the very fabric of the country as he wrote policies which created the very notion of what it means to be Canadian. Kennedy was an exceptional orator, and had an imagination which put a man on the moon, and averted an atomic war with Cuba. Another powerful presence, Churchill led the British through tough economic times, and on to Victory Day after the war.

Our society has changed much since those early years – some good, some bad changes. Much of the negative changes in our society stem from the lack of any real heroes. Real heroes give of themselves so much, we can’t but want to fall in line, and assist.

Would you really follow Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper on anything he’s got going on? How about US President George W. Bush?

I certainly wouldn’t consider any of our current world leaders and other celebrities heroes. Most celebrities these days are strictly candy coating – they look all sweet on the outside, but they really aren’t good for you.

As technology improves, making it even easier to destroy each other, to watch each other, to get in each other’s way, we really need a hero to guide us. We need someone to motivate, to encourage, to mentor and above all else, lead by example.

That’s what real heroes do – they show us that although they may go through tough times too, they are more than willing to make the sacrifices necessary for the greater good.

Until another hero surfaces, there will never be a greater good.

Once in a While Microsloth Gets it Right

For those regular readers of this blog, you know my disdain for Microsoft’s products. We are forced to use ‘em, because they are the ones which come shipped with our computers fresh from the store.

Usually, Microsloth uses you and me to fix their buggy software – they release their products full of issues, and as we complain, they resolve them and issue patches and fixes.

Today I finally got around to upgrading my MS-Office 2003 to MS-Office 2007. I haven’t been using the software long enough to discover any bugs – but I’m sure I will. However, so far, I am very impressed with a lot of the new gizmos they’ve tossed into this package.

They have considered usability for a change, and made the whole string of applications (Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, Excel, Access, etc.) more slick and easier to use. As I type this in Word, I can see how many words I have typed up to this point (168 for the curious). This functionality has always been in Word, but usually you have to go up to the toolbar, and add the option. This looks built-in to the bottom info bar – clever.

I also like the use of big icons to clearly show you what is what. Gone are the old days of having to squint at teeny-tiny icons, eventually having to hover over them to see the pop-up bubble help descriptions.

Maybe this was Bill Gates last true test of fate – getting at least one software application released without major fatal flaws?

Though Office 2008 has been out for a while and Office 2009 will no doubt come out soon too, so my “new” upgrade to 2007 has already gone through a slew of updates and fixes. After the install today, Windows Update downloaded over 300MBs of updates for Office 2007.

Still, Office 2007 makes up in large part for the Windows Vista mess-up. Vista should never have been released when it was. It wasn’t ready, and it was still full of many major bugs. Microsoft even admitted this in a sense, when they allowed people who bought new computers with the Windows Vista platform pre-installed to “downgrade” to Windows XP free of charge.

We the public, shouldn’t be the unpaid quality assurance team to Microsloth. And maybe they’ve finally learned that over there, because Office 2007 is a very big improvement over previous installs.

There weren’t any long, meaningless and horrid error messages, I didn’t get any missing file messages upon reboot, and when I opened the applications, they actually ran without crashing either themselves, or other applications.

Still, this is only day one of the new install – so anything can happen. But let’s hope Microsloth finally got this one right.

Packing it in and Up

When I was a kid, I always used gym bags to cart around my stuff. I’d stuff my school books, pens, papers, stinky gym shorts and probably right on top of that my lunch, into a big old gym bag.

I went through many gym bags over the years – they wear out, become frail and break. Or they just get plain nasty, all stinky and eventually my mom would complain about the smell.

These days, all the kids use backpacks. Backpacks are easier to, using your back to toss all your possessions on. This frees up your arms and hands, but I wonder what back problems today’s kids will have – or already have – from putting their lives on their backs?

I see little kids with enormous backpacks – often the backpacks are bigger than the kids! And these things look like they are overflowing, as they probably are.

Just as when I was their age, I’d stuff as much as I could cram into them, kids these days probably do the same.

The start of every school year is filled with media reports about the proper use of backpacks, but as the year progresses, those stories fade away and the backpacks become these giant back breakers.

I have a backpack even today, I use it for carting my laptops from place to place. But I don’t overload it, and I sure don’t jam in my stinky workout shorts into it!

Kids today have access to things we never had when I was growing up. Computers and the Internet have made great strides in developing the future leaders of tomorrow.

But backpacks probably have ensured that those future leaders will be more hunched over and in pain, than we ever are.

Well, I suppose someone has to keep the chiropractors in business.

Breaking News Is Not Always Broken

All the news that's fit to print but not necessarily. When I was a journalist many eons ago, all the news that was fit to print probably was. Back then news was actually news and when a newsflash was announced in big bold ominous letters on the screen -- it was really was breaking news.

These days when you see the words on the screen “breaking news,” more often than not they're just trying to get your attention.

Newsrooms in print, television and radio, are in the business of being in business. So, what this means is they make more money with more viewers, watchers and listeners. How do they get more people to watch? Easy, all they do is call something “breaking news” and figure you’re more likely to read, watch and listen.

But, sadly most of the time this so-called “breaking news” isn’t really anything more than just another news story. Sometimes, it may even be the big story of the day, or in some cases, just some government official giving a live press conference on some report which in a couple of months will all but be forgotten.

Being Canadian, I grew up on the CBC and Peter Mansbridge’s solid reporting style. I remember watching many real breaking news stories told by Mansbridge over the years. From the space shuttle Challenger explosion in the 1980’s, to the death of former Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau in the 1990’s, to the collapse of the World Trade Center towers in the 2000’s. These all were legitimate, and real “breaking news” stories.

These days, I see the words “breaking news” tossed onto just about every newscast at least once, on everything from stories about some cat stuck in a tree, to stories about gas prices on the way up. None of these are what professionally trained journalists – such as myself – would call “breaking news.”

Nope, these are just poor attempts at getting more people to pay attention. Which says something awful about the news media today.

Back in the day, when I was a journalist, we never had to make up the news to get people to pay attention – if it was news, there were always people interested.

These days, journalists seem to have lost their sense of what is and is not news. They go out and cover everything and anything which happens, hoping that their editors will run it, and that you will be interested enough to read, watch and listen to it.

I don’t know who is at fault – the editors for hiring people that don’t know how to do their jobs, journalists for not knowing how to do their jobs, or journalism schools for not teaching journalists how to correctly do their jobs. All I know is what I see – and what I see disappoints me, frustrates me, and makes me wonder how I’m supposed to stay informed, when those trained to keep us in the know, don’t know.
Granted, we do live in a far different world than the one in which I was a journalist. When I was a young reporter, we only had a handful of major daily papers, television stations and satellite radio didn’t exist. The Internet was still just a dream, and everyone watched at least one late night newscast, read at least one daily paper, and then fell asleep to Johnny Carson on the “Tonight” show.

These days, we have far too many newspapers, more television stations than any one person could ever really watch in lifetime, and an Internet full of instant information from reliable and not-so-reliable sources.

I can see how understand how easy it is to fall into an informational overloaded burn out. But journalists – print, radio and television – are supposed to be able to filter through all the information, and make sense of it for you and I.

That is their job. Or at least, that was my job when I was a journalist, and I worked in television, radio and print, so pardon me while I toot my own horn – I really do know what their job is supposed to be.

I know if you don’t like what you read, hear or watch, you can easily just go elsewhere for your news. I can change the channel, turn off the radio, or even just stop reading the paper.

I can surf the net for the information, and try to find the real sources, and wade through the trashy sources.

But I shouldn’t have to do that – that is no different than me taking on a co-worker’s tasks, because that co-worker is incompetent and unable to do his or her job.

Maybe there lies the real problem – today’s news media is just incompetent when it comes to actually doing their job?

Winter Is Back

In case you’ve been in a cave recently, you’ll have seen the changes too. It is getting darker sooner, the leaves on the trees are changing color, and there are more leaves on the ground. And there is that bitter chill in the air.

Winter is back. Soon the snow will fall, the wind will pick up and it will be dark longer than it is light.

I’ve never been a big fan of winter. I am more of a summer person. I don’t like it too hot, but I prefer the warm summer breezes to the goose bump causing winter winds. I prefer sitting on my balcony watching the stars on a pleasant summer’s eve, than having to bundle up just to go out for dinner.

As great a country as we live in, Canada has the worst weather. I enjoy having four distinct seasons – many places on the globe don’t even have that. But for what it’s worth, I wish summer lasted longer.

Our summers seem to be getting shorter every year. This summer was pretty much a wash out, as it rained almost every day. We had the wettest summer on record, and we’ll probably have the wettest and coldest winter too.

Winter does have it’s perks. It is nice to go out and ski, or make a nice hot fire in the fire place, and winter is the season for hot chocolate.

But we seem to have longer winters than summers here. And winter is always such a dark season – looking forward to the February blahs anyone?

I think not!

We have to deal with big, heavy and bulky winter coats, mitts, hats and toques. Slush and mud, and watch you don’t slip and fall on the ice.

And we always – always – have that one or two major snow storms, which cause traffic chaos. I still can’t understand how anyone can forget how to drive in a winter snowstorm, when chances are they do it every year. Must be a Canadian thing.

Good thing we have Canadian beers to keep us warm – cheers.

Time to Watch the Leafs Fail

The Toronto Maple Leafs are amazing. They haven’t won the pinnacle of hockey – the Stanley Cup -- in over 40-years, yet they still draw sell-out crowds to their home games.

Most professional sports teams usually go out of business or are bought out by someone in some far off city or country elsewhere when they continuously lose, because the fans stop going to the games.

Not the Toronto Maple Leafs – nope. In keeping with the meaning of the word “fan” (it comes from the word “fanatical”) they continue to spend millions every year on tickets, jerseys, gloves, sticks, bobble heads, and other merchandise, all of which continues to fund the worst professional team ever.

If the fans weren’t so fanatical about their Toronto Maple Leafs, maybe they’d actually start to play professional level hockey and win a few trophies.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are owned by a teachers union, and those teachers are sure smart. They know they don’t have to do anything to keep fans coming back year after year. Most professional sport franchise owners have to spend millions on marketing and promotions, to ensure they fill the bleachers. Most professional sport franchise owners spend millions on the top athletes, so that the team as a chance to play professional-level games, and even has a shot at the playoffs.

Not the owners of the Toronto Maple Leafs. They don’t have to do anything to keep fans coming back, because the fans somehow just keep showing up for more of the same crappy results every year.

Oh, every year around this time of year, when the hockey season is fresh and new, there is always talk about how “this will be the year.”

But it never has been or will be “the year” the Leafs win the Stanley Cup. Not so long as the fans keep lining the owners pockets with wealth, without forcing them to spend.

The owners aren’t stupid – they know if people will continue to spend their hard earned cash on their losing team, they don’t have to spend their not so hard earned cash to attract people to their losing team.

Which is why I don’t go to Leafs games. I don’t buy Toronto Maple Leaf bobble heads, or other merchandise either. I’ve never really been a big hockey fan – my sport of choice is baseball – but even if I was a hockey fan, I wouldn’t spend money on the losing team.

Why cheer on someone when you know the outcome already?

But I suppose I’m just yelling into an empty void, because my one person protest won’t stop the masses of fans from continuously spending on the worst team ever.

And that is why the Toronto Maple Leafs will never win the Stanley Cup. Not because they don’t have the players (even though they don’t) nor because they don’t have the solid coaching (even though they don’t). The Toronto Maple Leafs will never win the Stanley Cup because the fans keep going to games.

So, if you’re a fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs and you actually want them to have a chance in your lifetime of winning Lord Stanley’s Cup, maybe you too should stop spending money on the team.

So Slow You Can Watch Your Own Hair Grow

Recently I started working on-site at a new client’s office. Not unusual for us consultant-types, they even provide a comfy cubicle or office, desktop or laptop, and if you’re real lucky, a good cup of hot chocolate.

This contract, I’m working in someone’s cubicle temporarily – until Monday when she returns from vacation. I’m using her desktop computer also on loan, until they set one up for me.

I don’t know how on earth the person who’s desk I’m at uses the computer – it is so slow you can watch your own hair grow. I got into the office around 8:30am and the first thing I did was turn it on. At 8:45am, it was still loading – the login screen hadn’t even appeared yet!

If I try to run more than two Internet Explorer windows at the same time, the system slows down so much, you have to wait for the keys you pressed moments ago to register.

You’d think technology like this would be in a museum, or if still in use, by a small, mom and pop shop that just hasn’t caught up to the technological race. But I’m actually working for one of the largest healthcare research centres in Canada – and one of the largest hospitals in the country.

The computer I’ve been temporarily assigned at this client site is so painfully slow, that I’ve actually been dragging in one of my laptops to their offices, to do much of what I have to do. I can’t plug it into their network – most companies won’t let you just drop in any computer into their private network for security reasons. So, I’ve been using the computer they assigned me for their emails and other internal network-related tasks, and my laptop for everything else. I use a USB jump drive – or “stick” to exchange data between the two machines.

Using my laptop solves many issues, though it has created some new ones. For one thing it isn’t always easy to cart around a 17-inch laptop through megacity traffic downtown. It’s so busy downtown, people just push there way through the crowds – meaning I could easily damage my own equipment en-route.

Also, although I work out, it’s nice not having to carry heavy bulky items to and from the office – so lugging the laptop is just that.

And then there is the fear of expectations – once you do something at the office, it is expected you will always do it. We’re looking at getting a couple more consultants that do what I do, to build the team, so I know eventually they will have to get decent systems that we can use, else anyone we get won’t be able to do what they hired us to do. But as they have been using outdated systems for so long, and as they didn’t have anything ready for me when I started, time is something they seem to have plenty of when it comes to spending on new technology. They could keep delaying any purchase of new hardware, saying I’m getting by using my own tools.

Most clients where I work on-site, have everything setup prior to my arrival. It is nice to be in on the decision-making process, and build my own dream system for use at a client’s office. But at the same time, it is a pain in the butt to work on outdated machines, which just can’t handle the applications I use to do my job.

The ideal would have been to consult with the consultants prior to us starting. But ideals and reality seldom happen.

Still, it amazes me that an organization as large as the one I’m working for – with funding from all three levels of government, private donations, and major fund raising drives – has money constraints so tight, they force their staff to wait 15-20 minutes for their computers to start in the morning.

I’ve Got to Learn to Slow Down

I’m a work-a-holic, and that just ain’t good.

I just started a new contract, and already I’m repeating some of my past behaviours. I’m in before everyone else, often I skip lunches and other breaks, and I’m more than occasionally the last one out of the office.

Being a work-a-holic benefits the companies I work for in the short-term, but everyone loses in the long-term. I get burned out quicker, which means I don’t do as good a job as I’d normally do.

Funny thing, most people assume us work-a-holics do so much extra work because we love what we do, we want to kiss up to the boss, or for any of a slew of self-centered, ego-building reasons.

The reason I work so hard is plain and simple guilt. I feel guilty leaving work early, even if I got in early. I feel dishonest if I don’t put in a standard business day’s worth of work – even though I see most around me coming in early, and leaving early. I feel guilty if I say “no” to that extra project, lunch meeting or other work-related thing, which cuts into my own personal time.

Don’t get me wrong, I do love what I do – I’m very passionate my work and doing what I can to better myself, and the profession as a whole.

But I know I need to take more “me” time. I need to learn to say “no” or to delegate to a subordinate or junior more often. I need to look around, and although it may be wrong to “cheat the system” by coming in early and then leaving early, everyone else does it, and that’s how they survive.

Most people these days take extra long breaks, ensure they get their lunch breaks – and if they don’t they take off early or come in late the following day.

I know I’m entitled to these too – just I feel guilty doing it.

Why?

I honestly don’t know – and being a senior member of the team, rarely if ever will anyone question my hours spent on a project or dedication to the project if I don’t make meetings set during lunch. Come to think of it, no one has ever asked me to justify my time spent on anything. So long as the work gets done and the client is happy, nothing bad ever happens – to those that take their “me” time or those like me that don’t.

Though in many ways I’ve dug myself a bit of a hole. Once you do something, even if it was just a temporary thing, people come to expect that’s how it will be forever and ever. So, by always being available, no matter what time it is, regardless of whether I’ve had time for lunch, breaks, or even just a quick jog to the washroom – it is now expected of me to always be there.

Change is a hard thing to accept – and those who have worked with me will have to accept some subtle changes over the coming months. I’m getting too old to always be there, and I’ve long since past the political need to always be there.

I’m not some kid fresh out of college, with little to none in the experience department. And I don’t need to kiss anyone’s butt to get to where I want to go. Actually, I’ve found that kissing anyone’s butt never accomplishes anything – but don’t tell those kissing my ass.

Time for a break.

Safe Eating Or Not

Dining out just isn’t the same since the Maple Leaf food scare. Every where you go, you have to wonder if the food is going to kill you.

Back over a month ago now, Maple Leaf Foods – one of the largest processed meat producing companies in Canada, had a major recall, spanning several weeks. The recalls just kept coming, and people just kept dying.

At last count, 19-people across Canada died because of tainted food products.

Cold cuts make up a lot of lunches across the country – I’ve taken cold cut sandwiches to school when I was a kid, and I’ve taken such luncheon meats to work too. When you are rushing in the morning to get to where you have to go, making a sandwich is one of the quickest routes to take.

But even when you don't make a sandwich, someone else may still use infected meat. Or at least that's what everyone is thinking or must be thinking because everywhere I go I see signs. Signs at restaurants boldly declare that they do not use meat from Maple Leaf Foods, or that their products have not been infected.

How do we know this to be true? Oh yeah, the sign says it, so if it is printed in big, bold lettering, it MUST be true! Signs don’t lie.

And the stork brings babies . . .

I can understand restaurant owners concerns over lost business, it’s how they make their living. But how do we really know that these restaurant owners aren’t just saying what we want to hear, so that we don’t go elsewhere for our meals?

How can we be certain that all the spoiled meats were pulled off of store shelves? Those sandwiches that are in vending machines could have quite easily been infected – who checks those?

When our food supply is in question, no one is safe – even though the signs say so. Eat at your own risk, it could be your last meal.

Big Bad Bell Canada Wants Me Back

Recently, I left Bell Canada because they screwed up majorly. I had ordered their high-speed Internet and they told me several times that it was available in my area. They even were going to arrange free installation of the router and all the software that came with my package.

However, for those of you who read my blogs on a regular basis, you will know this never happened. Instead I waited all day for the installer to come and if it hadn't been for a phone call by me, and being placed on hold quite a long time the installer would never have come.

When the installer did come, he didn’t even do the full install. He could not get a signal to the Internet, so all he did was install the router and set up a wireless network -- which I could've done all on my own. The installer assured me that a signal to the Internet would be up and running by noon the following day – they had to do some work on the phone box on the street.

I waited and waited and waited -- but there was still no Internet signal even by the 2 p.m. So, I called Bell Canada instead and immediately he was placed on hold.

Placing a customer for story had a bad experience on hold is not a good thing, this is how people get even more angry upset and frustrated with the company that they are dealing with. As it is often you have to surf through several selections on an automated telephone system before you can get a live human being and that even makes people more frustrated.

Not to be outdone from the first time the first person I talked to was no use -- he apologized and transferred me to someone else who also had to transfer me to someone else. I must have gone through at least another 20 people, maybe even more who knows!

It makes me wonder how the biggest telephones company in Canada has any business when 20 of the people who mentioned their telephones haven't a clue how to answer them.

So, this is how I was feeling -- first I was already in a bad mood because Bell Canada had made another promise which they could not keep, and anytime a company sells you something and tells you something but does not deliver, that'll put anyone in a bad mood. Then, I waited around for something to happen -- even my Internet to come on, or someone -- from Bell Canada to call me and tell me why my Internet was not. You'd figure a telephone company would know how to use a telephone to contact their customers and keep them informed – or at least that makes sense. Doesn’t it?

Still adding to the frustration, when I took the initiative which Bell Canada should have taken in the beginning to make contact, I had to sift through a menu of phone options, customer service representatives, and who knows who else, only to be placed on hold for half-an-hour!

Finally, someone comes on the line, and explains to me that the phone box on my street is full, and I have to wait until someone moves out of the neighbourhood before getting the service which I was already promised by Bell Canada.

SO, it surprised me over the past couple of days that on my call display, Bell Canada had been calling – but not leaving messages. Maybe the phone company really doesn’t know how to use a phone?

Again taking matters into my own hands, I called the number left on my caller ID – and was warmly greeted by a Bell Canada sales person, trying to get me to come back to their company.

I had dropped them as a primary phone carrier for my land line, and I am in the process of replacing them for my cellular servicers as well.

The Bell Canada sales person asked me what would it take to get me to come back. I laughed, explained the whole ordeal, and said I wouldn’t ever do business with Bell Canada again.

Well, maybe if Bell Canada – the country’s largest telephone company – actually learned how to use a telephone – then maybe I’d consider it. But you know the saying – you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. . .

Those Silly Soviets Are At It Again

Recently the Moscow government announced that they were suing South Park, because they found it offensive.

Aside from the obvious – the show was created to be nothing but offensive – I find this action completely, well, silly.

My hunch is, the Moscow government is looking for some quick – but not necessarily easy – cash. South Park, an American-made prime-time cartoon about a group of kids getting into unusual situations, is being carried on a private broadcaster over in the land of the former Iron Curtain.

As the show is being carried on a private broadcaster, they can’t just take the show off the air – or can they? Moscow is still very much a communistic society, and although they have elements of capitalism afoot, I’d be surprised if they couldn’t exercise some sort of control. Worst case scenario, they could always just use one of their nukes. . .

But realistically, it is only a television show – if the government doesn’t like it – or more likely the people within the government – they can just change the channel. Suing an American media outlet (FOX) and the shows producers is just an attempt to make money.

Money is something the former Soviet Union needs in major supply. They were hit – and still are being hit – by the separation of their union, and the collapse of the Cold War. Poverty is at an all time high over there – which begs yet another question – who can afford to watch television? Some can’t afford shelter, clothing, even a piece of bread to nibble on – are these people really at risk from an American cartoon?

Governments are supposed to look out for the best interests of their citizens. Is suing over a cartoon really going to put a homeless people indoors, food in the starving’s tummies, and clothes on those in rags?

I don’t think so. At best, all it will do is stir up negative media criticism over yet another poorly made decision by a bunch of politicians. At worst, it will highlight the ineptitude of a country as a whole, to recover from political unrest.

There wasn’t a real winner or loser declared in the Cold War, but it is clear that some governments just haven’t been the same since.

Wired Less Day

A couple of seats down from me, there was this guy hammering away on his laptop. Next to him, someone else was on her BlackBerry, and next to her, another couple people busy fiddling with their cell phones.

You’d expect this scene to happen in any office, but I was on the subway. Technology is everywhere these days. I even hear others chatting away in the bathroom stall next to me when I’m doing “my business.”

I know the Internet is addictive, and some get addicted to sending text messages, or even online chat rooms – but sometimes I wonder if we aren’t being preconditioned by the corporate greed to be addicted.

Seeing people open up their laptops on the subway is a new phenomenon. I’ve seen it in years past, but that was rare. These days, it is becoming a very common thing. Having Internet wireless hotspots at coffee shops is also a relatively new thing – which is helping drive the additions of our technologically starved society.

It used to be, people would go to a coffee shop to escape the office, and just have a nice, normal chat with co-workers. Now, we’re seeing people grab their BlackBerry, or iPhone, or laptop, and surf and chat online while sipping their double-chocolate raspberry coffee latte, with extra foam.

The second I get out of the office, what’s one of the first things I do? Check my cell for messages. When I get home, again, one of the first things I do is check my emails and messages.

Technology has always been changing at an alarmingly hyper-fast pace. The industry was smart to design itself a model where whatever is hot and high-tech now, becomes obsolete in three-months – it guarantees consumer demand.

But this hyper-fast pace is also killing society, by taking away the simple pleasures we once enjoyed. Taking a coffee break to chat online, or text message just isn’t the same as sitting across from a living, breathing person, and actually talking to them. Standing on a busy subway car isn’t the same, when you have half the car fiddling with their wireless devices. Not to mention, it is a bit unsettling – you never know if they are taking pictures of you with their cell phone cams, or webcams and sending those all over the world.

The greeting card companies – notorious for inventing holidays which no one gets off, but require a greeting card, such as boss’ day (which apparently occurs this month) should create a day which bans technology, in honour of just being human. Maybe they can call it Wired Less Day?

Why Ma Bell Needs to Retire

For as long as I can remember, I have always dealt with the main players in the communications business.

I would always use Bell Canada for all phones – landlines and mobile – and Rogers Cable for television and Internet services. The reasoning being, they put the networks in place for all the other telecom companies, so they are the best in the business.

Or so I thought – at least when it came to telephones.

Then one day, I got one of those slick promotional letters in the mail, offering me exceptionally high-broadband for an amazingly low price from Bell Canada.

They were offering me 16mbps (16 Megabytes/Second) high-speed Internet for a mere $69.95/month! That looked like an amazing deal, seeing my then – and now – current Internet Service Provider (ISP) offered their top-of-the-line Internet for a substantially higher price. Rogers Cable has a 19mbps service for $99.95/month.

I thought it over, and started looking at the fine print. There must be a catch, if a deal seems too good to be true, it usually is. Right?

The fine print was that I had to bundle all my services with Bell Canada – not a problem, as I was considering consolidating all my services anyways to cut costs. With my Rogers and Bell bills put together, I was paying over $300/month in television, Internet, home phone and mobile.

If I went exclusively with Bell Canada, I could cut that down and have an even better home Internet – Bell’s deal included the 16mbps fibre optic high-speed, plus a wireless router, and a 100GB data usage per month. At the time, I had a 7mbps cable high-speed with Rogers Cable, and a 66GB data usage per month.

So, I called Bell Canada, and after talking with their sales centre, I bundled all my services together, and signed up for their wickedly fast fibre optics. They told me I made a great deal, and that someone would call within the next couple of days to schedule the free installation of everything, which was also part of the package.

A couple of days came and went and still no call from the big phone company. So, I followed-up and called them. The person – the second person I talked with – told me that for some reason the order hadn’t been processed, “but don’t worry Sir, I’ll ensure it is promptly processed today.” Or so they said – they even gave me the same line about someone calling me in a couple of days to schedule the install.

Now, I’m not a rocket scientist, but all I believe you need to book an appointment is a calendar, and a decent pen or pencil. Still, I know big companies have their own ways of working the world, so I waited it out.

Days came and went, and still no call.

So, again I followed-up with the big and starting to piss me off phone company. Again the third person I talked to, apologizes for the error, and tells me it has been corrected, and someone will call . . .

. . . I cut off the poor kid and told him I didn’t want to wait any longer, please book the appointment now. Stunned, shocked and aghast that a customer actually take charge of a situation, their was a lot of dead air.

Then, after much background chatter – I’m guessing the customer service representative had been discussing the situation with someone who knows how to handle it – says he can’t book the appointment, because they use a different computer system then “that office” but he can give me the number of the office that does.

I thanked him for his time, and began dialling the number. I had to go through several annoying automated menus, but eventually stumbled upon a live person, calmly explained the situation, and asked to book an appointment.

The person on the other end asked me everything under the sun, from my account number, to my order number, to my address, hey – here’s my phone number – you are a phone company right? But to no avail, he couldn’t pull up my order.

He told me it probably hadn’t been sent down from the sales centre yet. I was starting to wonder how much longer this would take? He could take a new order, but wouldn’t be able to give me the same prices, because only the sales centre has the ability to make offers like the one I got. And I’d lose out on my free installation, because they charge $60 for it.

His recommendation, was to call back to the sales centre and ask them to cancel the order and recreate it – maybe it got “stuck” in the system, he suggested.

I called back and after going through more people, someone tells me they can’t open my account. Probably because it is open by someone else – quite possibly by the high-speed centre, which makes the appointments!

So, I wait another day or two for a call, thinking someone must be dialling my numbers. I checked my phones, they all worked – I called myself from outside of all things!

Still, no call, so I call back, determined to get an appointment or to cancel the whole thing. This time, the person at the high-speed centre sees my account and books an appointment!

It only took a lifetime of calling to get an appointment for some guy to come by, and do what I probably could do – but hey – it’s included in your package, so why?

The big day comes, I have one of those “windows” when the tech is supposed to show up. My window is from 1pm to 6pm. So, I wait, I even take up reading a bland book in my living room, closer to the front door, so that in the odd event this tech person has trouble knocking, I’ll hear something outside and open the door. . .

It comes up to thirty-minutes before my window is to end, and no tech has shown up. I’ve been reading this bland book which has been collecting dust on my bookshelf since I made the mistake of purchasing it years ago all day, and no one shows up!!!

I call Bell Canada, and after wading through more people in their call centre, I finally get someone on the line who tells me their was a problem with the phone box on the street.

So, does this mean the tech isn’t coming, I ask, all bewildered.

She doesn’t know, but assumes not. I tell them if the tech doesn’t show up in the next 15-minutes, I’ll call back tomorrow to cancel everything, and I hang up.

I get a call almost immediately from the tech, asking if I’m still home. Amazing how a hang-up can get action. I tell him I am, and he says he’s on his way.

He comes over, installs the stuff inside my home – just a wireless router, I could have done that. He can’t get connectivity from the box on the street. He calls in on his magical-direct-line to the telephone Gods, and gets confirmation that someone will fix the box problem tomorrow between 8am and 12noon. He assures me I will have Internet by noon.

I thank him for his prompt work, and he leaves.

High noon comes and goes, I wait a couple more hours just to be safe. Nothing. Nadda. No Internet. Just a flickering green light telling me no contact with the outside world.

I call the big bad Bell Canada. After going through more people, someone finally says they will get to the bottom of things. They place me on hold – for over 30-minutes! But I’m calm, I want to know what is going on.

The person on the other end comes back all apologetic and tells me that the telephone box on the street is full, there isn’t anymore room for cards. I ask her what that means.

“Well, it means in order for you to get your Internet, someone else has to either cancel their Internet, or move out of the area.”

WHAT?!?!?!

I ask how long that could take.

She snickers, and tells me she doesn’t know – it really depends on when someone moves out of the area, it could be tomorrow, next week, next month, or longer.

Sheesh!

How come no one at Bell Canada told me this when they sold me the damn Internet in the first place?

Now, I’m a bit of a techy geek, so I know that sometimes you don’t really know what the problem is until after you look at the hardware. But someone should have told me right away what the problem was once it was known – not waiting for me to call back.

I cancel my high-speed Internet with Bell Canada, and call back my cable company.

Because of the massive headaches Bell Canada caused, and their lack of communications – despite being a communications company – they lost a long-time customer that day. I have since transferred all but my mobile phone to Rogers Cable. Though I plan to transfer my mobile too – just as I write this, I haven’t had the time to figure out what package to go with.

Whenever I call Rogers Cable for technical support, I get someone right away that solves my problem right away. I never have to go through several people, in different departments, to get parts of an answer.

Bell Canada was broken up by the federal government years ago, because they were getting too big, and the government thought they had too much of a monopoly over the industry.

Thanks to deregulation, they are no longer the only game in town when it comes to telecommunications, but they still are too big for their own good. Bigger isn’t always better.

Oh, and I am saving money by consolidating my telecom services – though it isn’t with Bell Canada.

Windows Vista Sucks

I’ve already mentioned a few times in this blog my distaste for Microsoft’s Windows Vista. Most of the new features are great ideas, but they just don’t work very well. The product was released too early, and we all suffer, because we have to deal with it’s various bugs.

Take the User Account Control (UAC) security feature for example. It’s a great idea – to ensure the person sitting in front of the computer really wants to make an administrative-level change, one which can affect other settings on the computer system-wide, you have to acknowledge the change. That’s what UAC is supposed to do – be the little watchdog that pops-up every so often, asking if you really wanted to do what you just told the computer to do.

Problem is, UAC pops-up for silly little things, which don’t have any affect on system-wide settings too. I’ve seen it open for Microsoft’s own Windows Live MSN Messenger! MSN Messenger in of itself cannot affect your computer – though if you are careless and accept a file from someone you really don’t know, you can get a virus.

UAC is a sound idea, but they didn’t test it enough before releasing it – along with a slew of other Windows Vista features – to the public.

Once again, we the public, the ones paying for the software, become the testers for Microsoft. We should all get a nice big fat cheque for being so nice to Bill Gates.

I have a really good program called Ashampoo Windows Optimizer which will automatically adjust Windows system settings, to avoid annoying bugs like the UAC pop-ups, while ensuring the system is running in top shape.

This program works with Windows Vista – it even has a section devoted to tweaking specific Vista-only features.

I’ve set it to keep UAC on, while disabling those annoying pop-ups. Now, Windows Security Center tells me UAC is off. So I turn it on, then Windows Optimizer tells me UAC is off!

I tried resetting both several times, with numerous reboots in between – each time you turn UAC on or off, you have to reboot your machine. I just kept going in circles!

Do I blame Windows Optimizer or Windows Vista?

Windows Vista – it is just one bad apple. There are lots of fixes and I’ve already installed the Microsoft Windows Vista Service Pack 1, which was supposed to fix a lot of bugs. I hope Service Pack 2 comes out soon, because Microsloth missed a lot of bugs – or maybe they just created a whole bunch of new ones?

Either way, I’m seriously considering “downgrading” to Windows XP. Everyone who bought in – more likely was forced into – purchasing Windows Vista gets a free “downgrade” to Windows XP.

Though that’s a big thing to do – I’d have to re-install all the applications which I use and that takes a lot of time. Last time I did that, I spent 12-hours straight installing software (I use a lot of different programs).

Do I want to spend 12-hours installing software, just to fix Microsloth’s buggy software? Not really, so I probably won’t do that. And there are a few features I do like in Windows Vista – the sidebar is pretty cool, allowing you to run programs in the background that do everything from monitor system resources, to alerting you when someone comes on to your MSN Messenger.

Oh well, I guess I am stuck with Windows Vista – hopefully the next fix will fix without screwing more things up.

Soaking Up Some UV

Just coming from my pool – I love going to the pool. Funny, I just don’t go often enough, and seeing as our typically Canadian weather allows us a mere three or four months out of the year hot enough to go for an outdoor swim, you’d figure I’d go more often.

When I was younger, I used to love swimming lengths. I’d go back and forth seemingly a zillion times. At the end of the swim, I was beat, that’s a great workout.

These days, I’ll do a few lengths, more dives, and then I’ll sit and lounge around, soaking up some sun.

It is so peaceful and tranquil, I’ll close my eyes, feeling the warmth of the sun beating down on me, cooking me like the steak I’ll probably be BBQing later.

When I start to get too hot from the sun, I’ll take off my sunglasses and hat and dive into the pool to cool off. Might do a few more lengths or dives, but most likely, I’ll just get a good soaking, and then climb back into my chair and dry off.

I can feel the water evaporating off of me, it is so hot. And it is so bright, even with my sunglasses on and my eyes closed, I see a bright red glow.

I’m on FIRE!

Nope, just kidding. But I am so relaxed at the pool, that I probably wouldn’t notice if I was on fire. Though I’d probably notice when the beer runs out . . .

Funny how that works. Must be a guy thing.

Why I’ll Never Smell Like a Spring Breeze

Just back from the drugstore to stock up on some my personal care items. We all know men and women are different – but when it comes to personal care products, you’d swear it’s all in the scent and color.

I actually will stop and read labels when I shop – I know, it takes a little longer, and I probably annoy everyone else, as I stand there in the isle, and everyone has to go around me. But I like to know what I put in, on and around my body and home. To me, that’s important.

So, I’m shopping for the usual suspects, body wash, liquid hand soap, shampoo, deodorant and so on. Like most people I assume, I have my favourite brands, but sometimes I like to mix it up and try different things.

Before I try something new, I’ll read the label. Maybe I had too much time on my hands, or maybe I’m just a nut, but I thought I’d compare similar male and female personal care products.

First thing I noticed right off the bat – price. Women’s products are all more expensive than those sold to us men. And often the ones which are marketed to women, are in smaller containers, so you get less, but pay more.

Colors and scents were also different – products geared towards women are usually in bright, pinks, blues, greens and yellows, with flowery scents to match the flowery colors. Scents like Summer Breeze, and Spring Showers, and my all time favourite play on words, Warm Mud Bath – great – I’ve always wanted to smell like crap.

The male versions of these products are less colourfully packaged, and have strong, manly names for their scents, like Mountain Rush, Sport, High Endurance and Crisp (whatever that smells like).

But if you actually read the ingredients on these things – not that they put many on – for the most part they all are the same. First ingredient is water, next was sodium something or other (salt-based cleaners) sulphates (the stuff that makes it stick to your body and grab on to dirt when mixed with water) and right down the list to fragrance and color last.

Granted, the fragrance and color are different from men to women – but everything else is identical.

In the female lines of products, there were the occasional “other” additives – but most of these are just weasel words which sound “girly” but mean little. Things like “added moisturizers” if they are added, how come they don’t say exactly what was added? Or when they are mentioned, if you do your homework, you’ll learn that it really hasn’t been proven effective – something like “rose extract” is supposed to “cure” wrinkles, but there hasn’t been any scientific research on this.
Deodorant is exactly the same from men to women, only difference is size and scent – men’s are generally wider and longer than women. Women’s scents were things like “baby fresh” and “Lilac” while the male versions were “sport,” “rush” and so on.

I’ve always wondered what “sport” is really supposed to smell like? And how come one product’s “sport” doesn’t smell like another company’s “sport?”

I think a lot of these personal care products – though necessary – are pure marketing.

So, I’ll never smell like a rose or a spring breeze, but I’ll still be just as clean as any ‘gal.’ And I pay a lot less – for more.

Size Matters -- Especially in Saving Money

I’ve been going over my various bills, trying to figure out what a lot of the things are that I have – and that I pay for.

On my landline, I’ve been paying for last call return, call forwarding and a bunch of other things I rarely, if ever use.

So, in an attempt to trim the fat, I put on my best negotiating hat, and called the phone company.

You hear a lot these days from big companies about “bundles” – the combining of services to save money. Essentially, the more stuff you buy, the more you save.

It is a great marketing ploy, which captures all of your services from going to the competition.

I’ve been looking at increasing my Internet, while decreasing other services which I don’t use.

And yes, I deal with the big old phone company. Call me old fashioned, but I like to deal with those who actually run the equipment, have the lines in the ground and own the cell towers. Sure, I can go for one of the other telecom providers, but they don’t maintain the systems, so when things go wrong, I may not get as quick a fix as if I were with the company actually running the show.

I thought I’d spend hours haggling, negotiating, even begging for a good deal. Turns out, the customer service representatives I talked with were very helpful at getting me great deals.

I managed to keep most of the features on my landline – even some I rarely if ever use – yet I knocked off $15/month from my bill, by bundling it with their top speed Internet service. And I got a great deal on my Internet too – normally it goes for $89.99 month for their top speed, I’m getting it for almost half that price! I’m actually paying about $14/month less than what I was paying the cable company for a much slower service – all thanks to bundling products and features.

Most marketing ploys are just that – ploys, gimmicks, not worth anything really to the consumer. But bundling actually works – I’m saving money, and getting a better speed Internet.

I highly recommend calling the various companies you deal with for your communications utilities, and challenge them to give you a better deal – I bet they will take you up on the challenge.

There is so much competition in the marketplace for television, mobile phones, high-speed Internet, and other wireless communications devices, the ball is really in our hands.

I remember when the industry was just becoming deregulated, and competition was being discussed. There were those who said competition would be bad – all the big players would undercut everyone else so much, they’d effectively eliminate the competition by forcing them out of business.

Not so, competition has made the marketplace better for consumers, because we get to really negotiate good deals.

For years, the telecom companies have been sending out these chain letters to customers who switch from them to one of the other companies, offering great deals if you come back.

Bundling services and features has been around for a while, but I never gave it a second thought. I just figured it was a trick to get me to spend more.

Turns out I was wrong – I am getting more for less!

Chock one up for us little guys, instead of the big corporations.

Mega-Meat Mess Up in the Press

A couple of weeks ago, a large meat processing plant nearby announced a big recall of processed meat products – mostly deli-type slices.

They claimed the meat may have been contaminated with a pretty nasty bug. Over the past few weeks, four people died because of possible contamination.

We were told by the news media to carefully check our fridges for specific products, and to throw anything which we suspected of being contaminated out.

What the news media didn’t tell us was just how big a mess up this was. Not only does the meat recall affect every meat product which came out of this plant, and is sold on grocery store shelves, but it also affects a lot of big name restaurants.

When you order a pizza from a big-name chain, you figure you’re safe. Think again – pepperoni – one of the most common pizza toppings – was part of this major recall – and a big-name pizza chain was named as one of those who uses this meat.

Of course, you wouldn’t know this from the media reports – you have to actually go to the list of products recalled directly from the vendor to learn this valuable tidbit of information.

I know, mentioning a big pizza chain – or any large corporation – in a negative capacity in the media can lead to allegations, even slander or libel suits. Though the risk is low, so long as the truth be told.

And when people’s lives are at risk, I think disclosing this information isn’t dangerous – but is a necessity.

There were other restaurants mentioned on the list, with the specific meat products which were affected. Again, none of these restaurants were mentioned in any of the media reports.

In fact, the news media failed to discuss the possibility of restaurants having any of the recalled meats, they focused on the potential for people to have it at home, from shopping.

Granted, not everyone goes out, and those that do go out probably don’t eat out for every meal. But that doesn’t make it any less important a fact to mention.

Sure, people may opt to stay home instead of going out – costing restaurants business. But a few weeks of lost business are more acceptable, than increased infections and body bags.

I worked in the news media, and I know as well as anyone else who worked in it that it is a business just like any other business.

But isn’t it bad business to kill off your customers? That’s what they are doing, to those who they failed to educate and inform properly, and who die because of this lack of information.

Yes, many businesses which are affected advertise in newspapers, on the radio and on television. So there is the potential to alienate some of the advertisers that pay the salaries of journalists covering this story.

But wouldn’t a headline about one of those advertisers, about someone dying because of consuming bad meat at that business, be a worse fate?

A good journalist would even follow-up with some of these businesses and do stories on how these restaurants and other food establishments are taking steps to ensure none of their customers gets sick, or dies. That’s good press for the advertisers, and just doing good journalism.

Sadly, good journalism isn’t very common any more.

Roughing It the Technological Way

One of the many benefits of having a laptop is that you can take it anywhere. That is also one of the downsides – means you can and in some cases are expected too, do work at home.

Recently, I took my laptop to the park, sat down at a picnic table, and began working under the shade of a nice big maple.

I often joke on beautiful, summer days, that there ought to be a law against working inside on days like these.

I stand by that line of thought.

It was quite pleasant working in the park. There was plenty of fresh air, a nice breeze blowing about, and I could hear birds chirping. Every so often, I’d be somewhat distracted by people doing there thing in the park. From people walking their dogs, moms taking their kids in strollers out for air, or just kids goofing around.

But overall, it was very nice being in the great outdoors, and the distractions weren’t that bad either. Probably no different than being distracted by co-workers chatting, coming by my desk asking for this that and the next thing, or even the phone ringing every so often.

I took a while to find a good spot to set up shop in the park. The first picnic table I found, although it was nice and sunny, the sunshine was so bright, I couldn’t see my laptop’s screen.

The next spot was too close to the playground, so the constant buzz of kids was just too distracting.

But eventually, I found a nice, quiet spot, in a shady spot, far enough from the playground, but still in the midst of the trees.

I felt energized working outside. Maybe it was the fresh air, or the vitamin D from the sun. Most likely, it was because of the change of location and pace.

Change is good, and although it is important to have a regular stomping ground to work in, it is nice to have a change of scenery every so often. Makes you feel less like a cog in the big picture, and more in touch with yourself and your surroundings.

Also, without the constant rush at the office, I was able to take my time and really focus on the things which really needed some careful thought. There weren’t any co-workers buzzing around like bees asking me “are you done yet?” and there weren’t any phones to constantly hound me.

Working out in the park was a real joy, and is something that I recommend to anyone who can. There was a certain sense of freedom working in the park. And besides, we all need our vitamin D.

Naming Your Responsibility

I know it is hip and trendy to re-invent yourself – everyone seems to be doing that these days. Whether it involves buying a new wardrobe, getting a new hairstyle, or even just getting your teeth whitened – many are up to these things.

But when you are a “celebrity” of sorts, say on television, the radio, movies or even in print, you have a certain responsibility to those you are talking too. Because you are in the public eye, whatever you do is held to a slightly higher standard – because when you mess up, everyone will know about it.

So how come some of the latest celebrities have aliases, or only first names? I was watching some show on one of the local stations, and the host was only identified by her first name. If you’re afraid of people holding you accountable for your actions, you shouldn’t be on television in the first place.

Granted, she could be concerned about being stalked, but hey, even some of the big name celebrities that do use their full names get stalked.

It may sound cool to have some funky pseudonym like “DJ Durk” or “Mr. X” but I wouldn’t trust you or your opinions. Which may be why you got into the public sphere in the first place – to share and maybe sway people in their viewpoints.

The Internet is slightly different – anyone can say or be anyone they want online. So people posting blogs, like this often do assume aliases or handles, because they may have a completely different life online, and others may only know them by their online name.

Though that does raise the question about how legitimate people are online – or when they do choose to go by a handle, an initial, or even not their real name.

Those in the major media – television, radio, movies, the printed papers and magazines – should always use both a first and a last name at the very least. Unlike the Internet, not just anyone can gain access to this method of mass communications.

As such, it’s important that these people – the so-called “celebrities” of the world – show some accountability for their actions and have a way to identify them, other than through some cool sounding alias.

While online, I’d say handles are all the rage and okay. Though I still wonder about Mr. X’s intentions. . .