Just winging it

We're about three days away from our trip down to the Maritimes, and it feels like we're still not ready for it.

I suspect it'll be a mad packing rush at the last minute, which means not getting much sleep before our departure time of 3:00am in Thursday.

Despite the impending madness, I'm really looking forward to it, and I think my family is as well. This will be the longest drive we've ever done. The last long drive was from Ottawa to Niagara Falls, which went surprisingly well and didn't really feel like a long drive.

This time around we're looking at 12-13 hours, at least, to Saint John, New Brunswick. We'll spend two nights there before grabbing the ferry across to Digby, Nova Scotia, on our way to Mount Uniacke where we'll be staying with some friends.

We have a short list of places and things to see in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, but haven't really decided when we'll go see them all. We're pretty much just winging it.

There's a possibility that we may cut our stay in Nova Scotia short a day early and drive across to PEI for a night of camping, so we can visit Charlottetown.

We're so disorganized. :)

The cool thing is that I'll have internet access at the hotel we stay at in New Brunswick, as well as my friend's place, and the hotel on the way home. I can write a daily update about our trip. I'm sure it'll be worth reading. ;)

Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii

How could anyone in their right mind name their child "Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii"? It sounds like a cheap porno.

Thankfully a judge put a stop to it, but still, this girl had to endure 9 years of hiding her name from here friends because she was so embarrassed.

Girl's name, Talula Does The Hula, won't do, New Zealand judge rules

The article goes on to say,

"Registration officials blocked some names, including Fish and Chips, Yeah Detroit, Keenan Got Lucy and Sex Fruit, he said. But others were allowed, including Number 16 Bus Shelter "and tragically, Violence," he said.

What the hell is wrong with some people? Is it not bad enough that kids often make up rhymes with normal names to pick on other kids? Do you have to do the work for them?

Writing complaint letters

We stopped at LensCrafters on the way home to pick up my reading glasses. The optician had trouble finding my tray until she realized that I had brought my old frames for the new lenses. I like 'em, and I can now read without having to hold a book or newspaper about 2ft away from my face.

I'll hold off on sending the letter that I started writing. I'll just wait for the feedback/comment letter they usually send, and I'll fill it out.

Speaking of comments and feedback. I finally got around to filling out the one that Ford sent us about our recent service visit. I also included a 4-page letter (with 4 pages of photos!) explaining why most of the ratings I gave were either fair or poor, rather than good or excellent.

I'll be interesting to see if they follow up on it, even if it's just to thank us for the feedback. If you're confused, check my blog archives from 05/25 up to today and catch up. :)

LensCrafters: Quick follow-up

Minutes after posting that last entry, my phone rang. It was LensCrafters. I was shocked.

She said that my tray had been located and that my glasses would be ready today. I can pick them up before 7:00pm tonight.

I'll drop by there around 6:00pm on my way home from work.

When Next Week isn't Next Week

I called LensCrafters this afternoon to find out if my glasses were ready. After many rings, someone answered the phone. I told them why I was calling. The woman asked me for my name and tray number. I told her my last name and tray number. I was then asked if someone had called me yet. I said no. She then said that someone would have to call me back and again asked for my name and my phone number. I repeated my info and also gave her my work number. She then confirmed my tray number, again.

She said someone would call me today.

Why, oh why, did I trust that "next week" meant next week. I could kick myself for trusting them a second time after going through the same shit a year and a half ago.

I am so confident that "today" won't be today, that I've already started writing a complaint letter to their head office.

I hope I'm wrong, but I am fully expecting to be disappointed. Again.

Regardless of the outcome, we won't be taking our business to LensCrafters EVER again and I would strongly recommend to anyone willing to listen that they too take their business elsewhere.

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• Maybe I need more than new glasses?

Rogers Television Sucks

I woke up early this morning to watch the live broadcast of the Landsdowne Park South Side stands demolition. It was supposed to be broadcast from the City of Ottawa web site starting at 7:50am, with the actual implosion at 8:00am.

I was sure there'd be plenty of replay broadcasts available later in the day, but it's not the same as actually seeing something like this LIVE.

I got up at 7:30am and loaded up the web site at 7:45. The Rogers Television logo stared back at me from the web page. That should have been my first indication that this was going to go very well.

On cue, the live broadcast began at 7:50am. As 8:00am approached, the streaming broadcast began to stutter.

"Great. Rogers can't handle the demand", I said to myself.

A few minutes after 8:00am, according to my PC time, the warning horn sounded.

More streaming stutter.

My wife and I joked that we're going to miss the implosion. We'll see one frame of the stands still intact, and on the next it'll be gone.

That's pretty much what we saw.

The broadcast stream continued to get worse. Pausing for 10-15 seconds at a time.

Seconds before you could hear the countdown, the tiny screen went all blue. WTF?

You could still hear the occasional bit of audio.

Then the countdown started. Or parts of it. Followed by broken sounds of the explosive charges going off.

Then a picture. A paused picture of the left side of the stands beginning to fall.

Then applause as the demolition crew cheered.

I sat staring at the one image.

All week, the newspapers were warning of road closures and advising people to watch the broadcast stream. That there was no way they could get anywhere near the site to see it live, and then Rogers totally screws up the broadcast stream.

I'm sure it was all due to their inability to handle the demand, but what the hell did they expect?

Way to go Rogers. Fuckin' morons.

If you're interested in seeing what most of Ottawa probably missed, they're replaying the event here: Implosion of the lower south-side stands at Lansdowne Park

Am I the only one who thought the entire stands was going to be demolished? It's still kinda cool to see.



This is a spectators video of the implosion. I guess you could get somewhat near enough to see it in person. Judging from a few comments you can hear on the video, I wasn't the only one who thought the entire thing was coming down.

Hockey Scores?

With 1200 entries received for CBC's "Hockey Night In Canada Theme" contest, this entry -- "Hockey Scores!" -- is the most viewed and most voted entry:



Clearly, HNIC fans are still upset about CBC dropping the ball on the old theme, losing it to TSN.

According to this article, having the most votes does not guarantee a win for the entry.

The "ratings," "recommendations" and "most viewed" portions of the contest website are just some of the factors judges will consider when selecting the contest semi-finalists, who will be presented to the country and judged by a celebrity panel on a CBC network television special on Oct. 4.

It sure would have been funny though. :)