Thursday, December 22, 2005

Christmas is a great time for an election!

There's been a lot of talk about this being a Christmas election. The mainstream media has been creating the impression that Canadians don't want an election right now. I think Christmas is the perfect time for an election since there's a lot of similarities between the two.

ChristmasElection
People make lists of things they want and hope they'll get them from their friendsPeople make lists of things they want and hope they'll get them from their friends in government
People rush around trying to visit as many stores as possible and buy as many presents as they can in the shortest amount of timePoliticians rush around trying to visit as many cities as possible and buy as many votes as they can in the shortest amount of time
People are rude, arrogant, and impolite to other shoppers, drivers, etc.Politicians are rude, arrogant, and impolite to other politicians, parties, and sometimes voters
Radio and TV are filled with boring, repetitive Christmas movies and songs that have been played every Christmas for the last centuryRadio and TV are filled with boring, repetitive political ads that have been played every election for the last century ("American" health-care anyone?)
People open their gifts Christmas Day and fake surprise and elation at receiving yet another useless reindeer sweaterPeople read the news after election day and fake surprise and elation at yet another useless government program (Gun Registry anyone?)
People go on a whirlwind spending spree then have heart attacks when they get the outrageously high credit card bill in JanuaryPoliticians go on a whirlwind spending spree then Canadians have heart attacks when they get the outrageously high tax bill in March
After being revived by the paramedics people realize that they didn't actually come out ahead, since for every present they got for "free" they bought one costing the same, or more, for the person that gave it to themAfter being revived by the paramedics people realize that they didn't actually come out ahead, since for every handout or program they got for "free" they paid the the same, or more, for someone else's "free" handout/program
After Christmas people line up for hours and fight each other violently in an attempt to get a deal on a TV or bed that they don't really needAfter the election people line up for hours and fight each other violently in an attempt to get a handout or favour from the government that they don't really need
After all the hype, hustle, bustle, and stress, people sit down the day after Boxing Day and think "Hmm, that's it? It's over?"After all the hype, hustle, bustle, and stress, people sit down after election day and think "Hmm, that's it? It's over?"
People make all sorts of wild resolutions and promises for the new year, and then don't follow through on any of themPoliticians make all sorts of wild resolutions and promises for the next four years, and then don't follow through on any of them

Wednesday, December 21, 2005

First Half Complete

The first half of the Futsal season is complete and it was a grand success! There's a smorgasborg of highlights to choose from, but a few that quickly come to mind are:
  • a victory over IPAC Ukraine, a Second Division team
  • a narrow one-goal loss to Spitfire, a First Division team
  • a draw (that should have been a win) against King's Head, a Third Division team
Not bad for a bunch of guys from Fourth Division! I can't think of any lowlights, except for maybe the last minute loss to the last place team. Rumour has it they're being relegated for the second half of the season though, so we won't have to worry about them anymore. :P

The Futsal game is fast and fun and except for some heating, seating, and leaking issues the facilities are great too.

The team is also really starting to come together. From great efforts on the pitch, to complementary pats on the back, to post-game beer bashes, this is the most fun I've had playing soccer in a long time. In fact, the games we lost were some of the most enjoyable!

The saying goes "It's not whether you win or lose, but how you play the game." Well, I'd complement that with "If you're not having fun, it doesn't matter whether you win or lose." That is why we play sports after all: to have fun.

I can't wait for the second half of the season!

Tuesday, December 20, 2005

Unexpected Gifts at an Opportune Time

It must really be the Christmas season! Today my employer gave me an unsolicited 3% raise, even though I've only been with the company for five months. To top that off, they explained why it was "low" (because I've only been there five months), and asked if I had any issues with my salary. Talk about proactive!

The truly miraculous thing about though it is that just a few weeks ago I started giving away and donating money. I didn't know if I could afford it at the time, but I was just blessed with a streak of generosity and couldn't hold back. I decided that I wanted to pass the blessings I have been given on to others, and I had faith that God would support me and ensure I could afford it. And today I got proof!

The absolute best part is, now I'll have even more to give away!

Monday, December 19, 2005

"It's like, you're almost glad to have carpal tunnel"

Even though my employer gave me a fancy schmancy new ThinkPad with an extra 512MB of memory and a nice carry bag, I still do most of my work in the office at my desk. To that end, I was also provided with a docking station, monitor stand, keyboard, and mouse.

The other day I got a new Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000. I was skeptical as to it's usefulness at first, but now that I've tried it, I'll never go back to a regular keyboard. This is the most comfortable keyboard I have ever used! The reverse slope takes a little while to get used to, but it feels great once you do. As the website says "the only thing you touch more often than your mouse and keyboard is your pillow". In light of that fact, I think this is a great investment, especially in the workplace. I'm actually considering buying one for home!

Sunday, December 18, 2005

Inconvenient Public Transit

There have been a lot of letters to the editor regarding Winnipeg Transit and the problems it's facing with revenue and ridership. To see why I don't ride the bus, let's take a look at my daily trip to work from both a time and cost perspective.

First, the Winnipeg Transit website shows three options for getting to work. The fastest commute is 40 minutes, but that includes 12 minutes of walking (not very pleasant at -35). The other two options are 45 and 60 minutes and include 9 or 10 minutes of walking or waiting for a transfer. For the return trip, Winnipeg Transit shows four options, each between 46 and 55 minutes total time, including 14 minutes of walking and up to 5 minutes of waiting for a transfer. So, using Winnipeg Transit, my daily commute will take at least 90 minutes and include approximately 30 minutes of walking or waiting. If I take my car to work, the drive is a maximum of 30 minutes each way, with about a 5 minute walk from my car to work. However, on a good day, I can sometimes get to work in only 15 minutes. For comparison's sake though we'll assume that every day is a bad driving day. So that's 70 minutes maximum total time with only 10 minutes of walking and no waiting. That's a 20 minute time savings every day.

Now let's look at cost. A Monday to Friday bus pass is $16.65 per week, for a total of $66.60 per month plus taxes. I pay $75 per month for parking. Yes, it's more, but it's also a slight case of comparing apples to oranges since my monthly parking fee allows me to park in that spot any time, any day of the month. The Monday to Friday bus pass allows me a maximum of two rides each day, only from Monday to Friday. So, if I want to go downtown on a weekend for a hockey game, or shopping, or some other event, that cost is extra. An unlimited monthly bus pass is $71.25. That's only $3.75 cheaper.

I can hear the bus people already saying "but you have to include your gas and car insurance". Well, my life involves more than just going to and from work so I would need a car anyway. It takes almost 2 hours to grocery shop, there's no way I'm going to tack on another 90 minutes in transit time to that by taking the bus. Besides, where would I put my 20 grocery bags on the bus anyway? I'm also involved in sports which take place at different locations around the city. I'm certainly not going lug my equipment bag onto the bus and ride it for two hours across the city just to play sports. And then there's visiting family and friends, and my girlfriend who lives on the other side of the city (a two hour trip according to Winnipeg Transit!).

For $3.75 more per month I save at least 20 minutes per day going to work (and many hours going other places), don't have to walk or wait in -35 cold, and have all sorts of priceless advantages such as having my car at work for when I want (or need) to go out afterwards, and not having to sit on a crowded, hot (or cold), and noisy bus.

So I don't understand why so many people are perplexed as to why people don't take the bus. For me it's an obvious, simple decision, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who's done this comparison. Keep in mind also, that being a young professional with no kids it's extremely easy for me to take the bus. Could you imagine what the commute would be like for a family, or single parent that needs to take their kids to day care before work and pick them up after? It's easy to see that such a situation could add another hour or more to their trip, including more walking and waiting out in the cold (or heat).

I don't have the answers, but I understand basic economics. As long as the inconvenience of public transit continues to outweigh it's benefits, people aren't going to use it. And I certainly wouldn't blame them.

Short Ironic Rant

One day I hope there's a fire and all the people parked in the fire lane die in it.

Monday, December 12, 2005

Mandatory Firefox Extensions

A lot of clients and friends have asked me what web browser to use since they hear that Internet Explorer isn't safe. I usually suggest Opera or Firefox.

Firefox is a great product, but to really get the most out of it you have to download (and install) a lot of extensions in addition to the main browser.

On the other hand, I usually refer to Opera as "Firefox with all the best extensions built in". Opera also comes with a news reader and mail client, for those who are looking for a more complete, and integrated package.

When a client asked me this question today it got me thinking though. What would be my list of must-have Firefox extensions? Well, here's what I currently have installed:
  • Adblock - Filters ads from web-pages
  • CookieCuller - Extended cookie manager
  • Enhanced History Manager - Flexible history management
  • FLST - Sets focus to the last selected tab
  • Flashblock - Replaces Flash objects with a button you can click to view them
  • Forecastfox - Get international weather forecasts in any toolbar or status bar
  • hideBad - Hides bad things (Clears passwords, cookies, cache, etc.)
  • LastTab - Allows tab navigation in a most recently used manner
  • NoScript - Lets you control the execution of JavaScript
  • Open link in - Adds more tab/window opening options to the context menu for links and images
  • Paste and Go - Lets you paste a URL from the clipboard and directly load it (like Opera)
  • SessionSaver - Allows you to save and manage browsing sessions
  • Tab Mix Plus - Tabbed browsing with an added boost
  • Tab X - Adds a close button to each of the browser tabs
  • Unread Tabs - Marks unread tabs so you know that you haven't read them

Monday, December 05, 2005

Mmmm

The other night my girlfriend, sister, and I were going to a Christmas pot-luck party and weren't sure what to bring. Being a dessert fiend I wanted to bring something sweet so the girlfriend suggested a gingerbread house. We found a kit from Create a Treat at Wal-mart for about $10, bought some extra adornments, and put it together the evening before.

It was awesome! It was really easy (and fun!) to make, and it tasted great too! The only problem was that nobody wanted to eat it at the party because they thought it was a centerpiece, haha. But once a few of us started the damage it went pretty fast!

I think we'll make another one for ourselves, just because :)