A cellphone rant

In the past, cellphones have annoyed me, irked me, enraged me...but in March of this year I was in a terrible rush of the last week before a festival I was producing, and I had to get a cellphone -- it was either that or sit next to a pay phone with a pile of quarters while I was away from my home phone, and I had to be out, doing things for the festival. So I bought a pay-as-you-go phone, and spent hours on it that week.

Then, I discovered the slippery slope [isn't it crazy that someone's found the time to write a Wikipedia article on just about everything?!?] that is cellphone usage. "Okay," I thought to myself, "I'll hang on to this phone, and we'll keep it in the car to use in emergencies."

Then I called Metro one day at work (his job gave him a cellphone to stay in touch while at work), and we arranged something rather important. Then I went tutoring, and called him to come pick me up on his way home from work. Then...I put more money on the phone.

Then, in May, I was recruited as a friend's campaign manager for the recent provincial election, and I racked up more hours (and money) on the phone.

So, I've recently bitten the bullet, and bought into a plan...a plan! Gads.

And while I may be a cellphone newbie, my friend, who I will call Ann, is newer still. Today, I'm going to give her my 'old' pay-as-you-go phone, for her and her husband to use just between them, so that one of them has a phone when they are meeting up. He is far more leery of it than she is...I'd say he's the smart one on this. [Actually, he's the smart one of the pair, he saw the wisdom in marrying this woman, in not letting her get away!]

They're in trouble.

But, then, so is all of society.

Cellphone usage has made us all ruder, lazier, more dangerous, and more obnoxious. We talk on the phone when we are with someone else. We don't make precise arrangements to meet, and don't worry about being late, because: "Oh, I'll just call you on your cell." We drive with them stuck to our ears (my Japanese friend was shocked that it wasn't illegal), although I'm still at the stage (luckily) where I'll answer the phone to say "I'm driving, I'll call you back." And we talk on the phone in public places about not-so-public things, and annoy others with our blather.

And now I've started to IM with my colleague about projects we're working on, sometimes, albeit jokingly, when we're in the same office. Is this another place to be wary?

Check out this quicktime video on that subject.

Lori

Word Geek x 2

I'm not alone....I'm currently on the phone with a friend and he and I are totally geeking out on the Color Code: a color portrait of the English Language. Go there, and enjoy it. (Thanks to anonymous who left the link in my comment section!)

Lori

Word Geek

Why does stuff like this excite me? It doesn't do anything...there's no real practical application for it...

Reminds me of the Visual Thesaurus. It's been around for years, and is so popular that one can't spend time just being in it without paying (but you can still browse briefly). It has a more obvious application, but there's the danger of going to it to look for a word, but getting lost in the patterns, in the search. Would make a great gift for the word-junkies on your list (hint, hint!)

Bought a new notebook yesterday, to investigate poetry a bit more deeply. I want to write out the bits that intrigue me, and maybe even work on some of my own. A line that has held my interest for awhile is from a poem by Seamus Heaney (not to be missed: It's available online with an audio file of him reading):

I remembered her head bent towards my head,

Her breath in mine, our fluent dipping knives--

According to Wordcount, the overall use of the word fluent is ranked at 13919, dipping at 15457, and knives at 9339. We write about sharp edges more than we talk about the flowing nature of speech.

I'll leave you with a line (utterly out of context) from "To the Days" by Adrienne Rich:

A typewriter's torrent, suddenly still.
Blue soaking through fog, two dragonflies wheeling.
Acceptable levels of cruelty, steadily rising.
Whatever you bring in your hands, I need to see.

Lori

Fog, and a walk

Metro and I went for a drive and a walk yesterday -- and I got him to stop and drive back a block or two so that I could catch this picture.









And the park we went to in the late afternoon (about 4 p.m. here in frigid Canada), had some beautiful light.


And the river was glorious (the posts in the water are from an old log dump...not in use for the last 40 or 50 years).






I do have a photo site, but to be honest, I don't like the utter blackness of the background. I'm going to establish a page on Flickr: here's the URL, but there's no pictures there yet!

Lori

But some of them seem useful!

This is the Grandiloquent Dictionary, the:

...result of an ongoing project to collect and distribute the most obscure and rare words in the English language.

But, really, even on the first page ('A' words), there are some useful ones.

Haven't we all met an:

aeolist

A pompous windy bore who pretends to have inspiration

or aren't we often guilty of:

abligurition

Excessive spending on food and drink

I don't dare go on, my friends think me pompous enough already!

Lori

Repetition

I like photography (if you've been to my not-often-updated photo site, you'll know that), but what I really like is repetitive patterns.

In humour, repetition is funny. In nature, repetition is fascinating. In art, repetition can be beautiful (as in this painting by my friend, Won Seok Lim).


And in writing, repetition is rhetorical...

So, imagine my delight when I found this site. "Exactitudes" -- collections of people in more or less the same pose.

Lovely.

Speaking of photography, and beauty, also check out Their Circular Life....and watch the movement of light (and people) over the course of a day.

Lori

Okay -- this is a useful thing!

Those of you who are using antiquated programs...

or who don't want to spend the hundreds on MS Office (to get Excel & PowerPoint)...

or Adobe (but you want the option to pdf your files once in awhile)....

Let me hear you, if you fit that description, yell "Yeah!"

"Yeah!"

Okay folks...have you heard of the ThinkFree Corporation? "A revolutionary free service that lets you create, access, and edit...within a web browser."

Two words I like: free and web. I've tried it -- and it lives up to the hype.

So far.

Check it out, and tell me what the catch is....'cause, as always, I think it's too good to be true.

Lori

Balm of Good Service

I know I've posted on this before...but really, what is really fabulous service? Is it merely politeness?

No.

(Illustrative anecdote) Metro and I went to a possible wedding venue a couple of weeks ago...and it was perfect in every way: a heritage manor near our home. A lovely room for the actual ceremony. A beautifully furnished room for the bride to get ready in. A park across the street to take a couple of pictures. A great big room downstairs with a bar for the 'apres' party, with a dance floor and a place for the band. Pricey, but not over-the-top, sell-your-first-born-to-pay (seriously, take a look at the pictures).

We had an appointment for a tour...she showed us the place...took us to a room on the second floor to talk about menus and money -- then left us there. "Okay, good-bye," and she walked away, went back to her office down the hall.

What? Can't walk us downstairs and see us to the door? Did you write us off -- assume that we're not a good prospect, that we wouldn't actually pay to have our wedding at this place?

She was polite, but there was something lacking.

I think what was lacking was an attitude of consanguinity.

Rachel, the woman at Birks who sold us our wedding rings today, treated me as an equal the moment I walked into the store...dressed in my normal casual attire.

Jim, my real estate agent from a few years ago (when I bought my condo), was the same. I had watched a new condo building go up, and went in to view the suites, just like any local looky-loo. A slob in a jeans and t-shirt. But I got hit by the bug, and a couple of weeks later, I was calling him up to see some places (with my excited mother in tow). I bought a place, and when those little ubiquitous notepads of his cross my path, I proudly say: "Hey, that's my real estate agent. He's great."

Am I right? We can all describe poor service -- but what is the fabulous variety? Help me out here!

Next time, I will avoid blogging about a certain rap star wanting to make a bright blue, larger-than-life, waterproof, "motorized version" of himself...(I'm not sure about the larger-than-life aspect, just sounded good) I guess he wants to appear sensitive and hip.

Gads. Now that's absurd.

Lori

Eating Dinner Out

Last night I was working late. As I was leaving the office (I'm helping out at one of the most innovative social activist organizations in North America -- Pivot Legal Society. They're having their annual charity auction on Monday, andI'm doing what I can to help with the production.), I was hungry. The most convenient place to get something to eat was an overpriced brew pub, called Steamworks.

Now, I'm going to pause here and clarify some aspects of dining out in Canada (and the USA), because I know some people who read this are from different parts of the world.

Point #1
A brew pub is a restaurant/bar that actually makes its own beer. Often quite tasty beer, in fact.

Point #2
Tipping in pubs/restaurants is something that is taken for granted here, and is an annoyance, especially if you've had a few of those beers....Essentially, restaurant owners can pay their staff low wages because they know that the customers will leave 10% to 20% of the total bill, extra, for the server. And of course, the customer is already paying for the food, which includes the profit margin for the restaurant owner. The server is dependent on the tips, because it is the difference between a minimum wage and a liveable wage. Let's see, who wins in this scenario? Pause, think for a moment....Ah yes. The restaurant owner. The customer pays for the food, and helps pay for the staff. [Don't get me started.]

Point #3
Many people use their bank cards to pay for things instead of carrying cash, or using a credit card. It doesn't take any longer for that to be processed than it does a credit card, and it costs the customer nothing (or very little, depending on the bank plan you have). It costs the business a little bit, like a credit card: I think up to 4% on the amount. Generally, for small businesses it can be expensive, so I try to use cash. For larger businesses, well, it's part of the cost of doing business.

Point #4
Bank machines are everywhere, and nowadays, not only at banks. Businesses can now get a bank machine in their establishment that charges the user $1.50 to $2 to use (and the business gets a big chunk of that). Bars and restaurants sometimes do it -- mostly bars. It's tacky. People hate them, because it costs them that extra amount.

So, back to my story.

I had an overpriced salad and a pint of beer at this restaurant, and went to pay with my bank card. My bill was $19.04 (oh yeah, that includes 14.5% tax as well!). The server (a lovely woman) smiles apologetically and tells me that they don't take bank cards, but that I can use the machine downstairs to take out some money. This annoys me, so I go and take out $20 -- no, sorry, $22 (paying the restaurant that extra 10% on my bill!).

I asked to speak to the manager, 'cause I was pissed. His answer: "We're too big to be able to accept bank cards." Too big?!? McDonald's takes bank cards! Many bigger and better places take bank cards. And if Steamworks gets so many people using bank cards, why isn't there a line up at the machine?

Of course, at the time, I was too angry to point out these rational arguments to his ridiculous claim, so I just didn't tip the server. I told her (and the manager) that the restaurant owed her the 10% I would have left for her.

Did I leave in a huff? Yes. Do I feel bad about it? Yes. She was very friendly, and she'll never get a raise from that skinflint restaurant, much less the $2.

Will I go back there? Ah, that's the really ridiculous thing...I probably will.

Lori

"Big 'i' or little 'i'?"

Last night, Metro and I were having a discussion about what may/might/could happen after death ("Good grief! Why?!?" I hear you ask. As always, it was prompted by one of those "What would you do if you knew you only had X amount of time to live?" questions asked of both of us in the last couple of days...)

This of course led to a discussion of what annoys me about Atheism/Skepticism -- not that atheists don't believe in a god (I'm with them on that), but that they so strongly don't believe. Ain't that a belief? (Oh, I'm simplifying this for the sake of the blog, not to mention the fun of being contentious...I'm sure I'll catch some flack for it.)

Personally, I'm agnostic (yes, I know it means that I'm unable to make a decision!). I believe that there are forces/energies in the universe we don't understand, and probably never will, but I do not believe that there is any personality/intelligent design involved.

Do not get 'intelligent design' confused with "Intelligent Design" (Gads, don't get me started. Just suffice to say I'm glad I don't live in the States, and if you want intelligent contradiction, visit Pharyngula, a great blogging scientist that enjoys ripping silly arguments to shreds.)

Which brings me to a page -- making fun of the very real (and scary) (and as of May this year, unconstitutional) practice in Alabama of putting evolution 'disclaimers' in textbooks.

Lori

Bilingual Jokes

A Japanese woman I've been working with has fabulous English. So good, in fact, that she's utterly comfortable making fun of her pronunciation.

Yesterday, as I was leaving work, I said: "Bye, folks!"

Her response? "Bye, spoon!"

I giggled all the way home.

Lori

No man is an island...

I've been reading Lt-Gen Romeo Dallaire's award-winning book, Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda...and it is truly a gripping book. I read the first half of Dallaire's account of the lead up to April 7, 1994 with a sense of impending doom, but I was following it, enjoying it--if one can enjoy a blow-by-blow description of how the UN & the world were neither willing nor able to supply the UNAMIR mission with enough of anything. [He calculated that if his UNAMIR troops had been allowed to open fire to protect themselves or civilians, each armed personnel had enough ammunition to sustain a 3 minute firefight. They didn't have paper or pencils to run their operation, nor more than three days rations on hand at any time.]

Then reading it this morning, I almost burst into tears on the train to work. I was distressed. I wandered out into the windy, rainy morning, and stopped for a cup of coffee. I walked to work. I was briefly annoyed by the pushy people paid to hand out trashy free daily newspapers that litter the streets, transit, & coffee shops. I said, "sorry, no" to a guy asking for spare change.

Suddenly, my life was back to normal.

Oh, I understand about the why and the how of this mechanism we all have to protect ourselves from that which we can't handle...my question is: How does one maintain the care & concern needed to be an activist?

Lori

Ah...nature!

I love Autumn. Bright, crisp days. Jacket weather.

And trips to the Reifel Bird Sanctuary, where I can 'do my Francis of Asisi thing' as Metro calls it ('tis tricky taking a picture of a chickadee in one's own hand, I'll have you know!)





The only absurd thing to note is the family name of Mr. George C. Reifel that christens this wonderful migratory bird sanctuary...a reminder of the canoes with hunters waiting out beyond the boundaries to shoot down some of the lovely snow geese that fly in every year at this time.



Lori

...and they actually attended!

The time has come for the Annals of Improbably Research to award their annual IG Nobel Prizes.

Here are the winners...including the researcher and author of the paper "Pressures Produced when Penguins Pooh--Calculations on Avian Defaecation" (I wish this were a joke...but 'scientists' receive grant money for stuff like this!)

There is really nothing more to say.

Lori

My last post, courtesy of The Dialiectizer: the Redneck 'dialect'. (You can choose to 'translate' a webpage into a number of dialects, including 'Elmer Fudd', Jive, or 'Moron'. Perpetuating stereotypes? No kidding. Absurd? Of course.)

My last post, courtesy of The Dialiectizer: the Redneck 'dialect'. (You can choose to 'translate' a webpage into a number of dialects, including 'Elmer Fudd', Jive, or 'Moron'. Perpetuating stereotypes? No kidding. Absurd? Of course.)

"Bein' Weird Isn't 'Nuff"

When ah was in unyversity, ah wo'e this hyar button (o' at least th' vahshun fum th' late 80s):

An' fella, was ah proud of mahse'f! Fry mah hide! ah figgerd ah needed t'advahtise thet ah was diffrunt, odd, unusual, ah reckon...but, at th' same time, claimin' thet ah was mo'e than jest th' avahage early-20s iconoclast.

But I've discovahed thet th' lapel button is not necessary -- varmints will talk th' "ah's weirder/wonnerfuller/wo'thier than thou" talk wifout th' pin, as enny fool kin plainly see. It don't matter their shtick, they'll talk it.

They. Th' varmints whose cornvahsashun ah lissen t'fo' a bit, then git tired of. "Show me yer walkin' th' walk," ah's hankerin' t'say t'them, dawgone it.

Mebbe I'll change mah own ways befo'e someone says it t'me.

Lo'i

"Being Weird Isn't Enough"

When I was in university, I wore this button (or at least the version from the late 80s):

And boy, was I proud of myself! I figured I needed to advertise that I was different, odd, unusual...but, at the same time, claiming that I was more than just the average early-20s iconoclast.

But I've discovered that the lapel button is not necessary -- people will talk the "I'm weirder/wonderfuller/worthier than thou" talk without the pin. It doesn't matter their shtick, they'll talk it.

They. The people whose conversation I listen to for a bit, then get tired of. "Show me you're walking the walk," I want to say to them.

Maybe I'll change my own ways before someone says it to me.

Lori

Insane or Brilliant?

What do you think of this -- the Time Travel Fund?

Well....I'm more of a single-time-line kind of girl, you know, more of a 12 Monkeys view of time travel (where if you've gone to the past, then you were already there), than, say, the Time Cop style (where if you travel back, what you do affects the future, essentially creating branches of alternate futures).

So, if I'm right -- and I know I am! -- I know that I didn't invest any money in this time travel fund, as I would already have the money, and a note to myself to remember to invest at some point in the future (A method used to great advantage in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure.)

Or, perhaps that is how they plan to make their profit? If I don't invest now, on the above reasoning, then the fact that I do invest sometime in the future means that they hold my money secretly until I actually make the investment...maybe they hope that people will forget to to do it?

Ah, paradox.

Lori

What does service mean to you?

I admit, I'm a service junkie. I'm the type that will embarrass friends and family with questions like: "Excuse me, are we in anybody's section?" If I have to tip in this country, then I expect a basic minimum of service...If I don't get it, I talk to the manager. If the service is decent, I leave an average tip. Good service gets a slightly better tip. Fabulous service in a restaurant or bar that I am likely to return to (more likely to happen of course, if I get great service) earns a bigger tip.

Birks is a jewelry store with a well-deserved reputation for brilliant service. Visit them for a browse and luxuriate in the balm that is TRUE meaning of service. I was there to price wedding rings, and Rachel (in the ring section) offered me a glass of water or a cup of coffee.

"Nice," I thought to myself, thinking of a Styrofoam cup of a Tim Horton's equivalent. "Oh, I would actually love a cup of coffee," I answered her.

"Regular, cappuccino, or a latte?" She laughed with me at my surprise...and went off to get me a cappuccino. She comes back with a lovely coffee cup and saucer -- no Styrofoam in sight.

I know how Holly Golightly felt about Tiffany's.

Lori

Traveling...

I haven't posted in awhile...I've been helping a friend in her office. I spent a day doing data entry -- I wonder how long one could do that for, without going crazy. The grand feeling of doing something needed and worthwhile left me by the end of the...uh...morning. I had a boyfriend years ago in Toronto who spent his rather considerable intellect and creativity with a group...you know, I was going to link to the group's webpage, but I find it rather sad that it even continues. It's absurd in a way that should not be celebrated. Anyway, another way that this man wasted his intellect was in a data entry job. He would listen to books on tape, and type essentially meaningless (to him) information all day.

On reflection, the advantages to a data entry job are clear....you can listen to audio books all day (I suggest Audible.com)...you don't bring your job home with you...you arrive, you work; you leave, you...go on with your life. If you're not a people-person, you don't have to worry about too much interaction. No customer service. You could probably tele-commute now.

Any comments?

The reason I started this post was to share a picture from our last trip...up north to Barkerville, BC, over the Labour Day weekend. One of the bunnies is me (Thanks Laura for the pic!):So cute! Silly, but cute.

Lori

Don't mess with my Health Care!

Attention Canadians: Please read(all of) this article from the New Yorker on the various issues and permutations of the USA's health insurance system (brought to my attention by the Nag -- thanks!)

And once you've read it, please visit the Health Canada website, and make sure you contact them about not changing our system! Maybe it's simplistic thinking, but any move towards a two-tiered health care system gives me the screaming willies...why would we make any moves away from a system that ensures that the most people possible have access to basic, preventative measures?

Beware the slippery slope!

Lori