Just a little food for thought;
If my union/grocery store were on strike, and I allowed to buy food somewhere else or should I starve??
My guess is that I need to eat, so I'm given a pass, but what about the CUPE members that live in areas unaffected by their own strike?? Are these members allowed to simply put the garbage at the end of the drive?? and what about the members that do live in the affected areas can they cross pickets lines to drop off their garbage?? What about David Miller, shouldn't he only play on municipal golf courses?? If not just to promote the cities courses and recreation, but to put some money into city coffer, the ones he's so happy to strip bear!
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Only in America
Flipping through Sunday's Toronto Sun something interesting, humorous and sad, caught my attention. I was just hoping to link to it, but I think I'm forced to tell you about it instead ..... wait, here;s a link to the website and the promotion that has caused such an uproar.
http://www.max71.com/ ..... and just scroll down a little!!
For those that can't be bothered clicking on a link, here's the gist of the story taken from today's Sun;
http://www.max71.com/ ..... and just scroll down a little!!
For those that can't be bothered clicking on a link, here's the gist of the story taken from today's Sun;
" In Butler, Mo you can buy a new pickup truck - and at least one dealership promises you a free AK-47 assault rifle. And that's completely legal.
Mark Muller, owner of Max Motors in Butler, told CNN this week he realizes people will be bothered by the promotion and wanted to clarify that purchasers would not be leaving the dealership with a weapon in hand.
Instead, the buyers will get a $450 voucher to use at a gun store, covering the retail value of an AK-47. "
You have to love America and the second amendment, in what world do people need to own a 1 gun let alone a assault rifle that fires 10 rounds a second. If it were simply a "were kidding" promotion, that might almost be funny depending on how it was implemented, but America has this love of killing things for fun, for invading country's and for being the "world police", and for this "promotion" to be real, is just a silly idea that is 200 year out of date, and promotes America as the world most gun crazed Country.
The argument is people need to protect their family and property, but when's the last time you saw a red coat coming up your driveway? and property is just that, property.
I've said it before, but I'll run away from the Country I love if I ever see the American flag flying over Ottawa, now you can add that if I ever see this country allow assault rifles and/or the right for normal citizens to carry a concealed weapon than I'm outta here.
I'm not too sure how having a weapon actually makes a society a safer place, but I guess if you own a truck with a gun rack an AK-47 would look "mighty fine" on the back!
Mark Muller, owner of Max Motors in Butler, told CNN this week he realizes people will be bothered by the promotion and wanted to clarify that purchasers would not be leaving the dealership with a weapon in hand.
Instead, the buyers will get a $450 voucher to use at a gun store, covering the retail value of an AK-47. "
You have to love America and the second amendment, in what world do people need to own a 1 gun let alone a assault rifle that fires 10 rounds a second. If it were simply a "were kidding" promotion, that might almost be funny depending on how it was implemented, but America has this love of killing things for fun, for invading country's and for being the "world police", and for this "promotion" to be real, is just a silly idea that is 200 year out of date, and promotes America as the world most gun crazed Country.
The argument is people need to protect their family and property, but when's the last time you saw a red coat coming up your driveway? and property is just that, property.
I've said it before, but I'll run away from the Country I love if I ever see the American flag flying over Ottawa, now you can add that if I ever see this country allow assault rifles and/or the right for normal citizens to carry a concealed weapon than I'm outta here.
I'm not too sure how having a weapon actually makes a society a safer place, but I guess if you own a truck with a gun rack an AK-47 would look "mighty fine" on the back!
Why do I have to be a man ....
.... when all the boys ruin it for me!
When I first got my Civic I was amazed at how much my insurance was. I drive less than 24 000KM a year, in a rural setting, and my drive to work is less than 24KM 1 way and only 4 days a week, I was paying about $1300 a year. Now after driving the same car for 6 years I'm still paying $1300 a year!! Sure I can expect to pay a little more, I drive a Civic, a car than is so popular the aftermarket has produced a million cheap parts so every little boy can "rice up" there Civic on the cheap, and without any driving skills they get into more accidents. You've also thief's that part the cars out and sell them back to the kids at pennies on the dollar. What I thought would help drive down the insurance would be the inclusion of a safety lock for the ignition, you don't have the key the car won't start and can't be hot wired, but I guess until all the old Civics are off the market I'll be paying higher rates.
What this was really all about was the recent "race" between 2 morons on Martin grove in West Toronto a few days ago. 200KPH in a 50 zone, ARE YOU KIDDING ME? here's what I propose;
The drivers should get HUGE fines, jail time and a lifetime driving ban !
ALL car(but cop cars) should be speed limited, Something like 160KPH!
Speed limits should be raised on the highways to 120(daytime) and 100(30 minutes before and after)
Speeding up to 20% over at the regular rates(60 in a 50, 96 in and 80, 144 in a 120 ETC ETC) after that the rate should triple or quadruple, along with a 7 driving ban.
Any thoughts??
When I first got my Civic I was amazed at how much my insurance was. I drive less than 24 000KM a year, in a rural setting, and my drive to work is less than 24KM 1 way and only 4 days a week, I was paying about $1300 a year. Now after driving the same car for 6 years I'm still paying $1300 a year!! Sure I can expect to pay a little more, I drive a Civic, a car than is so popular the aftermarket has produced a million cheap parts so every little boy can "rice up" there Civic on the cheap, and without any driving skills they get into more accidents. You've also thief's that part the cars out and sell them back to the kids at pennies on the dollar. What I thought would help drive down the insurance would be the inclusion of a safety lock for the ignition, you don't have the key the car won't start and can't be hot wired, but I guess until all the old Civics are off the market I'll be paying higher rates.
What this was really all about was the recent "race" between 2 morons on Martin grove in West Toronto a few days ago. 200KPH in a 50 zone, ARE YOU KIDDING ME? here's what I propose;
The drivers should get HUGE fines, jail time and a lifetime driving ban !
ALL car(but cop cars) should be speed limited, Something like 160KPH!
Speed limits should be raised on the highways to 120(daytime) and 100(30 minutes before and after)
Speeding up to 20% over at the regular rates(60 in a 50, 96 in and 80, 144 in a 120 ETC ETC) after that the rate should triple or quadruple, along with a 7 driving ban.
Any thoughts??
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Gramatical errors and the such!
Leave me alone when it comes to my poor grammar, sentence structure, and spelling mistakes, and remember I work nights at a grocery store!:)
Just doing this preemptively, since I expect some flack:)
Just doing this preemptively, since I expect some flack:)
Another Canada day passes without Canada in the equation!
I've made a decision, it's not a difficult one, but it is one that most people wouldn't consider doing unless they got something out of it.
The decision I made was to contact a bunch(no exact #, but I'll tell you when I figure it out) of retailers, starting with the Canadian owned ones, and to question the purchasing of "Canada Day" goods made in foreign Country's.
Some will say "there goes Goo again!", and I can understand that, but my purchasing of goods "made in China" has dropped by 85-90%. I no longer buy Unneeded or questionable use items if at all possible, this includes pretty much all dollar store product and a huge % of Canadian Tire product because of where they are made. Sure I fail now and then, I had no choice when I bought golf shoes this spring, I found 1 pair out of 50 that weren't made in China, and that 1 pair was suede with no waterproof warranty, so I bought a pair made in China. I also need to factor the difference in costs into my "where's it made" purchase equation. I can justify spending more on a product made in North America, what I can't do is throw money away. Say, something is $50 and is made in China, but the one made in N.A. is $60, I'll buy the one made in N.A.. NOw if that same $50 product is $80 for a made in N.A. version I'd have to be stupid to spend 60% more.
I already know my first store I want to send a letter would be Canadian Tire, and the question will be about Canada Day stuff. I understand companies wanting to compete with the lowest common denominator, usually that's Wal-Mart, when it comes to pricing goods but can we please at least make out Canada Day stuff IN CANADA!
It's almost as ludicrous as some City councillors tendering to the lowest price without ever thinking about keeping jobs in Canada. That's why there was such a hoopla when a councillor was giving away lapel pins Made in China, and justifiably so IMO
IMO it's not always get it the cheapest you can!
Brent
The decision I made was to contact a bunch(no exact #, but I'll tell you when I figure it out) of retailers, starting with the Canadian owned ones, and to question the purchasing of "Canada Day" goods made in foreign Country's.
Some will say "there goes Goo again!", and I can understand that, but my purchasing of goods "made in China" has dropped by 85-90%. I no longer buy Unneeded or questionable use items if at all possible, this includes pretty much all dollar store product and a huge % of Canadian Tire product because of where they are made. Sure I fail now and then, I had no choice when I bought golf shoes this spring, I found 1 pair out of 50 that weren't made in China, and that 1 pair was suede with no waterproof warranty, so I bought a pair made in China. I also need to factor the difference in costs into my "where's it made" purchase equation. I can justify spending more on a product made in North America, what I can't do is throw money away. Say, something is $50 and is made in China, but the one made in N.A. is $60, I'll buy the one made in N.A.. NOw if that same $50 product is $80 for a made in N.A. version I'd have to be stupid to spend 60% more.
I already know my first store I want to send a letter would be Canadian Tire, and the question will be about Canada Day stuff. I understand companies wanting to compete with the lowest common denominator, usually that's Wal-Mart, when it comes to pricing goods but can we please at least make out Canada Day stuff IN CANADA!
It's almost as ludicrous as some City councillors tendering to the lowest price without ever thinking about keeping jobs in Canada. That's why there was such a hoopla when a councillor was giving away lapel pins Made in China, and justifiably so IMO
IMO it's not always get it the cheapest you can!
Brent
Tuesday, July 07, 2009
Camping
Well I had a great time camping the weekend before Canada day, I went to Presqu'ille , http://www.ontarioparks.com/English/pres.html and Sandbanks http://www.ontarioparks.com/English/sand.html , 2 days at each!
OK, if you're looking for 2 completely different types of campgrounds you got it right here, on this very shoe ....oops sorry!
So Presqu'ille offers some very good trails, a nice boardwalk, lots of access to the water(mostly over rock unless you venture to the beach), some very nice campsites right on the water(more $ and book early!), has a very nice 5-6km paved trail for bikes, actually it's very bike friendly, and is only about a 7-8 minute drive to Brighton.
Negative points are that it's very bike friendly:), no really, it 's a couple of KMs to the beach, and if you go during the week only beach one( the furthest away from the campgrounds) is open, and most of the site tend to be a little more open.
Now Sandbanks offers a very nice beach that's a very short walk, but has become slightly overgrown, it's about a 20 minute drive to Picton for shopping, and it's overflow parking is more than a KM away from our preferred campsites.
The biggest deciding factors for me are the distance from the beach, and the drive time from home, with site privacy and $ coming into the equation.
Remember that Sandbanks is about 45 minutes further to get to, Presqu'ille is about 15 minutes off the 401.
So for next year I think I'll see who wants to head to Presqu'ille, just make sure you take plenty of bug repellant if you plan on doing the Owen Point Trail, I needed blood after doing the trail! I'll be taking(renting ?) a bike, next year!
OK, if you're looking for 2 completely different types of campgrounds you got it right here, on this very shoe ....oops sorry!
So Presqu'ille offers some very good trails, a nice boardwalk, lots of access to the water(mostly over rock unless you venture to the beach), some very nice campsites right on the water(more $ and book early!), has a very nice 5-6km paved trail for bikes, actually it's very bike friendly, and is only about a 7-8 minute drive to Brighton.
Negative points are that it's very bike friendly:), no really, it 's a couple of KMs to the beach, and if you go during the week only beach one( the furthest away from the campgrounds) is open, and most of the site tend to be a little more open.
Now Sandbanks offers a very nice beach that's a very short walk, but has become slightly overgrown, it's about a 20 minute drive to Picton for shopping, and it's overflow parking is more than a KM away from our preferred campsites.
The biggest deciding factors for me are the distance from the beach, and the drive time from home, with site privacy and $ coming into the equation.
Remember that Sandbanks is about 45 minutes further to get to, Presqu'ille is about 15 minutes off the 401.
So for next year I think I'll see who wants to head to Presqu'ille, just make sure you take plenty of bug repellant if you plan on doing the Owen Point Trail, I needed blood after doing the trail! I'll be taking(renting ?) a bike, next year!
CUPE workers strike and other things
OH Miller, is there was anybody else that wanted to run the City of Toronto you'd have been on your ass years ago. What's funny is everybody looks at Mel Lastman as a simpleton that ran the City quite poorly, now lots of people look back and wonder whether they were wrong! Let's get John Tory into the race and see if Mr Miller gets voted in again. Maybe not though, between all the CUPE workers and the millions of rats Miller is inviting into the city(workers should have been forced back to work IMO) he might have a fighting chance. That is unless the rats bring enough disease that they kill off the CUPE workers .... WOW, what a web we weave:)
As for the CUPE workers .... really, sick days used for your future retirement INSTEAD of when you're sick, you've got to be kidding me! Give em a small pay off for their accrued sick days up to this point and McGuinty should legislate them back to work ASAP!
OH how good it is to see the discussion about minimum mandatory sentencing for gun crimes, didn't I mention this in this blog 2 years ago?? Oh well:)
As for the CUPE workers .... really, sick days used for your future retirement INSTEAD of when you're sick, you've got to be kidding me! Give em a small pay off for their accrued sick days up to this point and McGuinty should legislate them back to work ASAP!
OH how good it is to see the discussion about minimum mandatory sentencing for gun crimes, didn't I mention this in this blog 2 years ago?? Oh well:)
Birthday gathering + a few quick movie reviews
I'd like to thank everybody that showed up at my annual "Birthday movie day" event at the Cineplex Odeon theatres in Newmarket. For once I saw 3 good movies, movies I actually wanted to see. I wasn't forced to see 1 flick I was looking forward to, a 2 flicks simply because I had"free passes".
The 3 movies I saw were;
Up 3d .................................................83%
In the day and age of production companies simply throwing movies into theatre's hoping that 1 might stick with fans, it's good to see Pixar simply puts out good flicks, and UP is another one.
UP simply put, is about an old guy that's forced to move because a development is taking over his area and he won't give up the home he spent many years with the "love of his life", and the his decision to fulfill a liflong dream his wife had to visit South America. What he doesn't want to do is give the house up, so he uses ballons to take the house with him!
OK, this movie has a few very fun moments, but what strikes you more is the love story between a man and his wife, and it's a strong enough story that you shouldn't be surprised if you tear up:)
The Hangover ......................76%
I was hoping that the stories of people "falling on the floor" laughing was true, but they couldn't be, I was right. Sure it was pretty funny, but it was a little bit of deja vu. We've seen this type of movie before, a movie about a bunch of guys heading to Los Vegas for "one last adventure" before they start getting married off, sure we haven't seen it done quite as well, but we've "been there and done that" before.
Drag Me to Hell ............................. 86%
EXACTLY what I was hoping for!
Sam Raimi has done a bunch of cool flicks including Spiderman, but his most loved works tend to be the "cult" films, movies like Army of Darkness, Darkman, and the Evil Dead series are well loved by a group of devoted(if a little nuts) fans, and Drag Me to Hell fits right in with those listed.
Drag Me to Hell is a story about a girl, that in order to secure a entry level managment position at the bank, is told to be more stern when customers come in looking for a loan, or in this case a renegotiation of an exsisting loan. That's where she makes a mistake and refuses to renogotiate a loan with an old Lady, and get a curse placed on her that will see her "dragged to hell" in 3 days. That's the basic premise, and the movie works amazingly well as both a horror AND a comedy, the old Lady is really creapy, and the jokes do great at lightening the mode.
Loved this flick!! but don't go into this expecting a real horror flick, it's as much a comedy as a horror.
...............................................................................
Other flicks I've seen lately
Public Enemies ................................75%
Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Marion Cotillard
A true story about John Dillinger, robbing banks, a love affair, and the formation of the FBI. Interesting, if a bit slow and over long. The revelation here is Marion Cotillard, she was amazing!
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10009526-public_enemies/
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dino's ...........................67%
been there, seen that, I should have listened to the reviews, it wasn't cute, funny, or really very entertaining at all, even the 3D was mediocre.
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1194515-ice_age_dawn_of_the_dinosaurs/
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen ............................ 62%
I really thought that #2 might be better, NOPE, just longer!
What the deal with being so close to everything that you can;t see anything?
Unless you loved the first one, skip this flick!
The 3 movies I saw were;
Up 3d .................................................83%
In the day and age of production companies simply throwing movies into theatre's hoping that 1 might stick with fans, it's good to see Pixar simply puts out good flicks, and UP is another one.
UP simply put, is about an old guy that's forced to move because a development is taking over his area and he won't give up the home he spent many years with the "love of his life", and the his decision to fulfill a liflong dream his wife had to visit South America. What he doesn't want to do is give the house up, so he uses ballons to take the house with him!
OK, this movie has a few very fun moments, but what strikes you more is the love story between a man and his wife, and it's a strong enough story that you shouldn't be surprised if you tear up:)
The Hangover ......................76%
I was hoping that the stories of people "falling on the floor" laughing was true, but they couldn't be, I was right. Sure it was pretty funny, but it was a little bit of deja vu. We've seen this type of movie before, a movie about a bunch of guys heading to Los Vegas for "one last adventure" before they start getting married off, sure we haven't seen it done quite as well, but we've "been there and done that" before.
Drag Me to Hell ............................. 86%
EXACTLY what I was hoping for!
Sam Raimi has done a bunch of cool flicks including Spiderman, but his most loved works tend to be the "cult" films, movies like Army of Darkness, Darkman, and the Evil Dead series are well loved by a group of devoted(if a little nuts) fans, and Drag Me to Hell fits right in with those listed.
Drag Me to Hell is a story about a girl, that in order to secure a entry level managment position at the bank, is told to be more stern when customers come in looking for a loan, or in this case a renegotiation of an exsisting loan. That's where she makes a mistake and refuses to renogotiate a loan with an old Lady, and get a curse placed on her that will see her "dragged to hell" in 3 days. That's the basic premise, and the movie works amazingly well as both a horror AND a comedy, the old Lady is really creapy, and the jokes do great at lightening the mode.
Loved this flick!! but don't go into this expecting a real horror flick, it's as much a comedy as a horror.
...............................................................................
Other flicks I've seen lately
Public Enemies ................................75%
Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Marion Cotillard
A true story about John Dillinger, robbing banks, a love affair, and the formation of the FBI. Interesting, if a bit slow and over long. The revelation here is Marion Cotillard, she was amazing!
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10009526-public_enemies/
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dino's ...........................67%
been there, seen that, I should have listened to the reviews, it wasn't cute, funny, or really very entertaining at all, even the 3D was mediocre.
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1194515-ice_age_dawn_of_the_dinosaurs/
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen ............................ 62%
I really thought that #2 might be better, NOPE, just longer!
What the deal with being so close to everything that you can;t see anything?
Unless you loved the first one, skip this flick!
Men and Woman at Wimbledon .....oh my!
YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS!!!
With all the problems tennis has had, and continues to have in the area of promotion it's a good thing to see another epic final in the men's game.
The match between Roger Federer and Andy Roddick looked to be a rather quick and uneventful final, arguably the greatest singles champion in men's tennis in the Open Era VS the one time Grand Slam Champion that never seems to have enough!
You'd think MAYBE a 4 setter, Roddick has a big enough serve to give most players fits, and is a good scrambler, but he lacks the skill to compete against the man with the greatest court sense and the cleanest hitter the game has ever seen.
Well this turned into an interesting match, a five setter with a 16-14 final set, Roddick making shots that had Federer scramble, Federer hitting 50 aces to Roddicks 27( I guess you can chalk that up to Federer's stronger return game), and the fan's actually seeming to want Roddick to win!! Well probably not:) they just wanted a great match, and they got it.
I'll give Roddick a lot of credit, this has got to be the best match he's ever played, he came within 2 games of beating a much more skilled player. I guess the real question was, what would have happened if Roddick had of been able to convert his 6-1 point lead in the second set tie breaker and win the set. It would have been interesting to see if Roger could have turned his game up enough to overcome a 2 set deficit against a guy playing the match of his life .... I guess we'll never know.
Way to go Roger, a fantastic player, a gentleman, and a great ambassador!
NOW, the woman's game ...... WOW what a disaster! I think the lowest draw in the woman's tennis is a final between the 2 William's sister, but that's exactly what we got. A much better finals would have been Venus VS Kuznetsova, oh well at least the Semi's with Keznetsova VS Serena was a great match.
The real question is ....What's up with the points system in tennis? While I have a huge problem with Venus and Serena entering tournaments in a limited way, therefore saving themselves for the bigger tournaments, I have a real problem with Dinara Safina being #1 because she's played in every tournament ever created. There has to be a better weighting system for the big tournaments, The Slams, teir 1 and 2 events(Toronto being a tier 1)!
With all the problems tennis has had, and continues to have in the area of promotion it's a good thing to see another epic final in the men's game.
The match between Roger Federer and Andy Roddick looked to be a rather quick and uneventful final, arguably the greatest singles champion in men's tennis in the Open Era VS the one time Grand Slam Champion that never seems to have enough!
You'd think MAYBE a 4 setter, Roddick has a big enough serve to give most players fits, and is a good scrambler, but he lacks the skill to compete against the man with the greatest court sense and the cleanest hitter the game has ever seen.
Well this turned into an interesting match, a five setter with a 16-14 final set, Roddick making shots that had Federer scramble, Federer hitting 50 aces to Roddicks 27( I guess you can chalk that up to Federer's stronger return game), and the fan's actually seeming to want Roddick to win!! Well probably not:) they just wanted a great match, and they got it.
I'll give Roddick a lot of credit, this has got to be the best match he's ever played, he came within 2 games of beating a much more skilled player. I guess the real question was, what would have happened if Roddick had of been able to convert his 6-1 point lead in the second set tie breaker and win the set. It would have been interesting to see if Roger could have turned his game up enough to overcome a 2 set deficit against a guy playing the match of his life .... I guess we'll never know.
Way to go Roger, a fantastic player, a gentleman, and a great ambassador!
NOW, the woman's game ...... WOW what a disaster! I think the lowest draw in the woman's tennis is a final between the 2 William's sister, but that's exactly what we got. A much better finals would have been Venus VS Kuznetsova, oh well at least the Semi's with Keznetsova VS Serena was a great match.
The real question is ....What's up with the points system in tennis? While I have a huge problem with Venus and Serena entering tournaments in a limited way, therefore saving themselves for the bigger tournaments, I have a real problem with Dinara Safina being #1 because she's played in every tournament ever created. There has to be a better weighting system for the big tournaments, The Slams, teir 1 and 2 events(Toronto being a tier 1)!
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