He Lives!

I don't know if anybody actually remembers that this blog exists... In fact- I don't know if blogs are even still a thing. Do people read these anymore or are we too busy clicking through a million pages of those stupid lists of stolen Reddit content that you could've seen ages ago without all the ads if you'd bothered to go on reddi- never mind. I digress.

So anyways, I've recently gotten the urge to share my thoughts with you again valued reader. I'm three years wiser then when I last wrote on here and what a difference three years can make! When I started this blog it was New Life, New Challenges, Same Person. Well as it stands now, that new life of mine is about 6 years old. That's pretty insane. I don't even remember writing half the posts and I'm utterly appaled by my overuse of the phrase 'holy crap'. I used it way too much. In fact, let us all agree that holy crap is henceforth banished. In lieu of 'holy crap' I will use the much more adult 'holy shit' and if that offends you I hate to inform you that we can't be friends. No, no dear reader. I refuse to associate with that kind of person. You can, however, watch from a distance where you can no longer hear my profanities because let me tell you. I swear... I swear a lot. 

So let's get down to the nitty gritty. What's new with me? Well, I have the same job still! 4 years this spring! Do I love it? Oh man, the number of times I'm asked that question still blows me away. I hear it at work. I hear it when someone new finds out what I do. I hear it at family functions. I hear it shouted at me as I parade through town! Every single time without fail my answer is the same. The same unchanged boring answer I have provided from day 1. Are you ready for this? Are you ready for me to settle this seemingly fascinating question that absolutely everybody seems to ask me? Yes. It's fine. No, the math is not that hard. Yes, I do have funny stories but unfortunately I cannot divulge information about anything that goes on in that building because they'll fire me. End of job talk.

Let's move on to something more interesting now shall we? Yes, lets. 

I've moved away from my dear aunt. Well, more accurately she moved away from me. Off she went to Australia and off I went to the bustling town of Gananoque. Never heard of it you say? Well it exists, I assure you. That lasted a year and a bit before taking the courageous almost too adult-y step of moving in with my significant other! Jesus, even that was almost a year ago. Clearly it's going well if I'm still here. I'm now surrounded by my new family and friends and I can happily say I have roots here now. I love where I live, I love what I do (sometimes) and I love the people who I have met on this journey. If I could have forseen myself sitting here writing this 6 years ago I can honestly say that I would not have believed you. I would not have believed that teenage me would step so far out of his comfort zone, move 300km away from home and be this happy surrounded by people who love me and who I love. 

Anyways, that's all I have to say for now. I enjoy this outlet still and to be completely honest with you I forgot it existed and also I spilled wine on my keyboard so this would have been a pain to write for the longest time. Silly me can't be bothered to spend 10$ on a new keyboard. Silly me can't be bothered to move the wine glass after spilling it 6 times in a row reaching for the mouse! 

Ciao for now! I'll try to come back tomorrow!!  

~Chris

Hello?

Dear Internet,

It has been 1 year and 4 months since my last confession.


Did you miss me? This went from being my outlet to my forgotten middle child! I assure you I'm still alive and kicking. I'll try to check in more often.

In the mean time feel free to chat me up! I know you must miss me!

An open letter to 'Yahoo!'

First off let me start off by saying I enjoy 'Yahoo!'. I've had an e-mail with them that may be full of spam but still gets used. I use yahoo answers all the time and it's not the worst place to read the news. That being said I read on the interwebz the other day that there had been a major password breach on their servers and that something like 400,000 accounts had been compromised. I paid absolutely no attention to it because I don't have anything sensitive on there anyway so why should I care. Well yesterday I get a notification from Amazon notifying me that a suspicious IP address has tried to change my password. I thought that was odd but whatever. Later I get an e-mail from twitter that said the same thing! Then I had a eureka moment! Those two accounts both use the same username and password that my Yahoo account used. But wait a minute... Certainly if my account had been compromised yahoo would have notified me! Right? Nope. I logged onto my yahoo account this morning and there was no problem. My old password still worked and I saw no mention that my account was now open for the world to see since I assume my username and password are now on some list on some shady website for the scum of the internet to see. Clearly basic damage control says you automatically reset the compromised accounts passwords and notify them IMMEDIATELY. I understand you shouldn't be using the same password across multiple accounts but that's no excuse for them to remain absolutely silent. I will be cancelling all my accounts with those people like many people before me.

Remember when Sony had the same security breach? I couldn't access my account for ages. Then when I finally could the first thing they did was make me reset my password and I haven't lost my faith in them but yahoo? I now trust you more then that nigerian prince who promised to send me millions of dollars!

Farewell Yahoo!!!!!!
Sincerely,
Pissed off

Zombies...Heatwaves....Tornado's

One day I'll stick to writing on here. But for now you'll have to live with sporadic posts when I have the chance. It's been a very busy couple of months. I've found a new job which I won't expose to all you lovely Internet peeps but needless to say it has been a hectic crazy few months of learning and sleeping. All in the name of a job that is unlike any job I've ever had before!

So a few weeks ago a headline grabbed my attention. Well, not so much grabbed but ripped my attention away from its normal happy place. You've heard of this whole zombie man in Miami? Well if you haven't step out from under your rock for a few minutes and google it. A man named Rudy Eugene was found at the side of the road in Miami. He was naked and chewing a man's face off. Police said he growled at an officer who told him to stop and appeared to show super human strength. Now that story alone was enough to convince people that we were indeed seeing the beginning of a zombie Apocalypse. But then it was explained that this man wasn't a zombie. He was just on this drug called bath salts. I didn't know whether to be relieved or even more worried! Now there's a drug out there that completely normal people could take which would turn them into cannibals? Lovely. But THEN it came out that this man had nothing but pot in his system. I'm no pot head but I know that pot does not do that to a person. So what turned Rudy Eugene from a church going decent man into a cannibalistic maniac? I guess we'll never know.

,

Nothing to worry about!

Moving on... It has been an interesting few weeks weather wise. Not only have we seen a lot of heat we've seen some incredibly severe weather. Let me tell you a little story... I was preparing myself for work and was all ready to go when the power went out. I looked outside and it was sunny. Dark in the distance but still sunny! Power stayed out long after I left for work. I got to work and went in and that was that. But my lovely aunt was just down the road from me and happened to get this picture of this monster of a storm funnel whatever going over my head. Can't say I would have felt better knowing that that thing was passing over me but a little heads up from SOMEONE would have been nice!!!

Nope. No longer in Kansas

This next photo was taken around the same time our power went out and is probably the reason WHY the power was out. 5 minutes away from our house this thing roared on whilst the entire village stood on the front lawn asking each other if their lights were off as well.


Overall an interesting month. Each day brings something new and I'm very thankful that my life has taken such an interesting turn over the last few months. I'll leave you to get back to whatever it is you do on the Internet.

Ciao!
Chris

Amen!

So a while back I got into an argument with a friend of mine. He was determined to convince me that evolution was all made up and creationism is where it's at. We probably argued for about 6 hours with neither of us convincing the other in any way that their beliefs were wrong. Here's the thing though. What started out as a polite debate about creationism vs. evolution eventually turned into him trying to tell me that I was going to hell. By the end of it I had brought him down to his last argument which was "you have to believe me because if you don't you're going to hell". This is where you religious nuts lose me. When he said that to me I asked him what he believed was going to happen to the rest of the people on the planet who practice a different religion then him. He told me they were all going to hell too. So I pointed out that most religions had been around a lot longer then his religion so what makes him think his religion is the right religion? Well, the bible [he said] tells us this and this and we must worship the bible. So this went on for ever and ever and by the end of it I was thoroughly convinced there is no god, and he was thoroughly convinced that we are all evil sinners and I'm going to burn for eternity. When he left I felt sad. Not for me but for him, for all those people who are taught from a young age that they are right, the rest of the world is wrong and they are the only ones going to heaven so long as they follow the rules. I live my life. I am a good person and I don't need an organization to tell me that I'm a bad person if I don't do what they feel is right. That is what I elect my government for.

I no longer wish to see you any more!

Why is it that a religion that was created 2000 years ago is acceptable to follow but a new religion comes forward and everyone calls it a cult and criticizes it. Do people not see that to people like me all religions look that way? Whether your religion is 2000 years or 2 years old I don't think any of them are real. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the guidance they offer to people in a crisis or a big life decision. But to tell people to devote their lives to these organizations is wrong. I will not be a part of it and I would appreciate it if these organizations (because I feel that's what they are) would stop approaching me on the street, in the bus, at my door and through my friends. Because I will not change my mind. These people need to learn to respect our difference in opinion and belief because I am sick of being told that I am a bad person for not believing in god! If I walk into a church and tell the pastor I think he's full of crap then I'm doing something wrong. If two people approach me on the street and tell me I'm going to burn and hell and that I'm stupid for not believing in god then that's perfectly OK? I could really go on forever and I would love to start a running segment of creationist arguments and my rebuttals towards them because I have a lot to say! So ciao for now! Stay tuned for more!!

Chris

So it has been awhile since I posted anything! Not like I've just been lazy and ignoring you all! I want you to go back and read the first post in the blog. I'll wait...

The Family

So I'm back! I've come back to the middle of nowhere to try something different and hopefully move forward in life. I'm happier then I've ever been and that alone was worth the trip. I look forward to sharing more with you as I continue this journey!! 

So off we go! Full speed ahead!

Chris

Vunderfull Vezzer Ve are Aving

Hey guys. Thought I'd check in and let you know that I'm not dead. I've been out of town for a bit and too busy to sit down and write out a blog post but here I am!

Smiling Melanoma Machine

I don't know what witchcraft is causing this weather but it's been like summer the past week. Nothing like breaking out the patio furniture in the middle of march. I'm not complaining though! I'll be back to my regular fantastic blog posting later on this week so I hope I haven't lost you forever because I've been gone for a week. Seriously though, how shallow can you be? Do you not love me enough to stand by me in my time of need?

That's it for now! I'll see what I can do about posting something tomorrow... Ciao!


-Chris

Hello World!

So in the last 48 hours I have had people visit my blog from Canada, America, Ireland, Ukraine, UK, Russia, Germany and Japan. Wow that is quite the diverse audience!! Special super times shout out to everyone who has visited from all around the world!! It's incredible to think that the things that I have to say are read by people so far apart! I guess that's the reality of the internet... But it's hard for me to wrap my head around because when I was little and the internet was something magical and mystical that was primarily used to anger others in the house who wished to use the phone. Screeeeeeeee baaaaaaa ca dun ca dun naaaaaaaaa (That was the dial up sound in case you couldn't tell) and if I wanted to write something for other's to see I'd have to rent a plane and fly it over the city like the wicked witch of the west. But I didn't and lucky for me because here we are!

I do realize that this post may seem a little pointless but it isn't! It is an official welcome from me to everyone reading this from wherever you may be in the world right now. I welcome you :) ...to munchkin land falalalalala...

Alright that's about it for now! I'm interested in getting to know you readers so please leave a comment letting me know what's on your minds! If you don't feel the need to share your thoughts with the entire world you can still leave a comment just be sure to let me know you don't want it published and I guarantee it'll be my eyes only :)


In closing. We are now closed.
Ciao!

Paradigm Shift

Let's talk about something out of the ordinary here. Something potentially life changing. Something so basic it affects all of us in every single aspect of our lives. Let's talk about the power of negativity and positivity and how it can potentially change all of our lives for the better.

Perhaps you've heard about the movie (or the novel) 'The Secret'. This is all about wanting something bad enough that the universe will give it to you. Most of us would read this and automatically assume that it's nonsense. However, this movie made me think about my own life and the course of events on any given day. I began to realize how negative my thoughts had become as I got older. How the things I worried about going wrong in my life are going wrong, how the things I dread come true and how the things that keep me up at night seem unsolvable. The message of this movie was bollocks on the surface but let's read between the lines here. Let's take a look at the message they are trying to get across because when we do we see evidence of it everywhere. I want you to think about your thoughts. Are you thinking about what you want in life? What you don't want? What can go wrong? What has gone wrong? Well stop. These are all negative emotions. If you truly want something then imagine you have it. Imagine the feeling of satisfaction and happiness now that you've finally accomplished your goal or your dream. Don't imagine the work you need to do to get there. Don't imagine the hardships, imagine that one single moment when you've done it. For example let's say you want that promotion at work. You spend all your time thinking about how much you want it but it isn't working. Why is that? You are so focused on want that you aren't thinking about have. Stop thinking about how much you want it and close your eyes and pretend you've gotten that promotion. Feel that pride, satisfaction and happiness. Don't think about the fact that you're only pretending. Don't think about the fact that you haven't actually gotten the promotion. Just sit there and embrace those good positive emotions associated with it. The theory is that subconsciously we are always trying to validate our emotions. If we are worried about missing the bus we will miss the bus, if we are certain we'll catch it then we'll catch it. Likewise if you are experiencing the emotions associated with that promotion you will do everything necessary to attain it.

The theory presented in the movie is basically the same. However, they focus more on energy. The more energy you project the more you receive. If you project negativity you receive negative energy. If you project positive energy you will receive it. This is known as the law of attraction. But what are your thoughts and emotions but different frequencies of energy. Therefore it stands to reason that if I think about my desires enough and I project that image in which I've acquired it, the universe and my own subconscious will do everything it can to validate and attract that which I desire. It's a wonderful thought. It opens up your mind to  an entirely new way of thinking. There are those who would automatically dismiss it and that's fine. But there are also those who are skeptical and try it only to have it fail. Why is that? Because you don't believe it and the universe will validate that.

I feel like I'm very open minded as is my friend (we watched the movie together) and we were incredibly intrigued by this. So we went to the coffee shop. For those non-Canadians we have this think up here called roll up the rim. Basically you get a coffee and you roll up the lip of the cup and either win or lose. You could win many different prizes (coffee, money, cars, doughnuts etc.) but it's a running joke with us that we always lose. So today we decided before we went in to get our coffees we would put this to the test. He sat there with his eyes closed and imagined himself winning. I sat there and did nothing, I consciously expected to lose and he expected to win even though he never has. So we get our coffees and we're sitting there discussing this and he finishes and rolls up the rim. He won, I didn't. Coincidence? Perhaps. But what's the harm in believing positivity and prosperous thoughts attract the things we want and dream of.

If you've read this I thank you. If you aren't convinced that's a shame and I urge you watch this movie (it can be found on Netflix) if not for the metaphysical message then the self help message which is incredibly empowering.

~Sending out happy thoughts to you!~
Chris

Iran, Nuclear threat?

So like most of the world I've been following the various events taking place in the middle east. Notably, Iran. I've been following this story closely because not only is it incredibly fascinating it's also incredibly similar to something that happened about ten years ago. Remember the Bush Administration? Remember when they cried about Saddam Hussein and his weapons of mass destruction? Remember how there weren't actually any weapons of mass destruction yet the war continued on for another ten years? Remember?? Or have we all forgotten. History is repeating itself in front of our very eyes and it looks like we're stupid enough to fall for it again. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Wake up people! Iran isn't that incredibly stupid that they would risk an all out nuclear war with the U.S. They know that there is no way in hell they would win that war.

Then you have Israel crying for help because a nuclear Iran is a threat to them. Did you catch that last part? TO THEM! Not to us, to them. Why do we in the west feel like we need to meddle in the affairs of the rest of the world? What business do we have to tell them what to do and how to do it? As far as I'm concerned we don't. If Israel is worried then let them worry. They're grown ups, they should be able to defend themselves. As a sovereign nation that has been around for awhile now you would think they'd be able to handle this themselves.

I'm going to end with a little bit of advice to all my fellow neighbours to the south. Think back to the beginning of the Iraq war and think back to the whole you dug yourselves into. A bloody, messy, lengthy EXPENSIVE war that destabilized an entire nation and turned an entire race of people against you. Was it worth it? Is it worth doing again?

Just something to think about

Chris

Watch it!

Gotta keep this short, but me and my friend are partaking in a new project which will be released soon. Until then please watch this!!

Advertising, The Internet, and YOU!

This used to be an article supporting internet advertising. At the time (and in the present) I still believe sensible advertising on the internet is important and inherintly necessary. However google decided to suspend my adsense account and seize the money I had made simply for DISCUSSING it.

So here's my new article.

Fuck you google.

Dear Occupy...

Dear 99%,

Let me start by saying I have no problem with protest. I have no problem with letting your government know what you're thinking but that isn't what I want to talk about. I want to talk about your message and your purpose. Let's face it, you're failing big time. The media doesn't care and the general public thinks of you as a bunch of lazy squatters. You harass police and get upset when they do their job and cry big bad government whenever you get the chance. With support for your movement dwindling I continue to ask myself why you don't give up. You sleep on the street in the cold and the elements whilst the rich you are protesting against sleep soundly in their beds. Am I the only one who see's that you may be doing this all wrong? Contrary to what you choose to believe this isn't some sort of revolution. It's about a bunch of people who are angry at their country's banking system. I agree with this, but lets not put it on par with the arab spring. I mean, come one. Those people were facing a murderous opressive government and well... your problem is more about a few slimy rich guys who crashed your economy. But here's the thing. What exactly do you hope to accomplish? Do you honestly think that taking to the street day in and day out is really going to make a difference? How about you study hard, get a good paying job and try and change the system from the inside out. It's one of the things that makes our society so great. You CAN go from rags to riches with a lot of hard work and a lot less whining.

When the Occupy movement began I wanted more then anything to go be a part of it but I have a job, bills to pay and responsibilities that can't be put on hold indefinitely whilst I try to change the world. Like it or not you live in a capitalist society. Accept that. If you don't like it then get out in your community, get elected. If people believe in what you believe then you shouldn't have too hard of a time getting your voices heard. But sleeping in parks? Blocking traffic and disrupting the lives of the very people you're trying to help? Enough is enough. You don't win the support of the 99% you represent if you piss them off.

-Chris

Pictures Pictures!

So although I do have a blog devoted to my pictures, I never post there and so I've decided to post them here instead! Here's the first of more to come! Enjoy :)

The Lost Generation

Hey guys,

So I was looking through some old pictures that I had stashed away in my drawer and it occurred to me that we haven't actually printed pictures in ages! The invent of the digital camera seemed to completely eliminate the need for actual photographs and then along came facebook which offered to store our pictures for us. I won't argue that its convenient but it got me thinking about all the things that we store on hard drives. It doesn't take long to realize how vulnerable we've become by making our lives digital. By storing records online and pictures online and important documents online that in the past would have been stored in a fireproof vault somewhere. Naturally this thought train led me to wonder, what would happen if some cataclysmic event occurred that destroyed our computers and wiped out everything we had worked so hard to accumulate over the years. And if such an event occurred then who would tell our story? What would our generation look like in 100 years. It appears that it would be so easy for us to just disappear off the radar and that's a little bit scary...

My final word: Print out your pictures and your documents. Keep a physical copy of things because we've all been there. We've all crashed a computer and kicked ourselves for not backing it up.

I leave you with a picture I took awhile back, its gorgeous. Enjoy :)

Human Nature and the Internet

The internet is an amazing tool. There is limitless access to information about everything you could possibly dream of. Not only that, if you need more information there are forums for basically everything under the sun that range from interesting to downright stupid. However, human nature strikes again. These forums are plagued by what can only be called internet Nazis who have for some reason made it their life purpose to prove others wrong and make them look like morons. Every forum has it's unique set of rules that all members must follow lest they be ridiculed and insulted by other members who think having 7,000 posts on a forum about nothing makes them better then the 'noob' who just signed up. God forbid you post something in the wrong topic, or even worse spell something wrong. It kind of goes like this:

New Member: Innocent question about something that would probably do better in a different sub forum.

Member 2: Insults for posting in wrong forum

Member 3: Insults for misspelling 'your'

Member 4: Complains about the rules being broken -begin rant about noobs-

Member 5: Attempts to answer original question

Member 6: Ridicules member 5's answer

Member 7: THIS THREAD HAS BEEN MOVED

Right? Ya. This isn't contained to forums either. News articles are full of people who have nothing better to do then point out all the reasons why the journalist is a moron and god forbid a news article is missing a comma. Guaranteed several people will point it out to them whilst insulting the intelligence of the poor journalist.

What is it about the anonymity of the internet that brings out the worst in people? Why do we focus on the rules and not the content? I believe that being on the internet is like being in a car. We know we can do whatever we want and nobody can retaliate.

But who cares? Why does it matter? It matters because there are people who don't turn into complete idiots on the internet. There are some of us who sit on the sidelines and don't participate in forum conversations because we don't feel like dealing with all you morons waiting to pounce on us. We might be able to contribute to the conversation or even solve whatever your problem is but you're SOL because we're not getting involved. That's why blogging is so great! I can write whatever I want and nobody can say boo. Although I don't participate in forums and I rarely comment on news articles I put out this challenge to the internet: Be nice to each other. There's no need to mock and ridicule because you believe someone is wrong. There's no need to fight because you disagree about something that everybody has a different opinion about and there's no need to insult, degrade and correct every single journalist who writes something you don't personally care about. The world is a big place my friends, there will always be people with contrasting viewpoints to your own and being a jerk won't change their beliefs. Here's to positivity on the internet!

Do we all need to go back to kindergarten? Clearly.

-chris

The Unspoken Rules of the Bus

Hey people! Long time no talk. It has just occurred to me that every single post begins with that. So I'm gonna stop saying that. Clearly I'm not one of those people with seven million tweets and a blog post every day of their lives. But I digress. I really wanted to talk about the people who ride the bus. It occurs to me that many of you fine folks have never had the pleasure of experiencing the joys of public transit. So let me just give you a few rules in the event that you choose to partake in the adventure that is public transit.
1.) Don't stand at the front of the bus. You don't want to be 'that guy' who stands at the front of the bus even though it's empty and makes everyone who gets on squeeze by you.
P.S If you choose to be that guy then please don't look all offended when I push past you without so much as a look of apology. Douche bag, MOVE BACK
2.) Please have your change ready when you board the bus. Yes, I understand if you run to catch the bus and you have to fish the change from your pocket. I get it, I do. But how about the people who are standing there waiting for it and take 10 minutes to find it. Am I the only one who makes sure I have the correct change before boarding? No? Didn't think so.
Also, if you find the you do not have the correct change please don't come and ask me if I would mind sparing a few dollars. I mind. Very much so.
3.) Don't sit next to someone when there are empty seats all around. There is nothing more annoying then someone who chooses to sit next to you when the bus has 4 people in it. Not only is it annoying but it's creepy. 4.) If you choose to sit next to me because there's nowhere else to sit that's fine. But please, if you see that I need to get off the bus get the hell out of my way. I need to get past you so please stand up and let me out. None of this sideways leg turn nonsense. My ass does not need to come that close to your face. Get up.
5.) Don't be a seat hog. If there's an empty seat next to you and you put your bag on it you can bet your ass I'm cussing you out in my mind. Not only that, I will ask you to please move your bag and let me sit. Well now, this is awkward isn't it?
6.) Wear deodorant. Does this really need an explanation? You stink.
7.) I don't want to hear your life story. You missed the bus yesterday? really? and then your cat was sick? and then you had to go shopping? REALLY? No. I don't care. I'm on the bus because I have to be. I'm not here for chit chat. If you want to chat then pull out your phone like the rest of us.

This list is far from complete but its all I can think of right now...
Goodbye blogger world!
Peace and love!
~Chris

Attention Parents of teenagers!

So its been awhile! This won't be very long as I only have half an hour before I have to get ready for work. Yay? What a long week this is. Work sunday monday tuesday wednesday thursday friday and something tells me I'll be getting called in saturday and sunday as well. Too bad! Not gonna happen ;). But this brings up exactly what I wanted to talk about. Parents. Parents are great! They buy you things and keep you warm and dry and feed you and apparently assume you're superhuman. No, for real. If you are a parent I want you to read this as I'm directing this to you. Perhaps in your day, balancing high school and a part time job was easier. Part time job meant a few hours on the weekend or maybe a couple hours after school once or twice a week. Not to mention your school curriculum in grade 12 is now what we learn in grade 5. Believe me when I say things have changed. If you're like my parents you expect part time to mean 25-30 hours a week which roughly translates to this: wake up, go to school, get home, sit down for three minutes, go to work, get home around 10-11pm do homework until 1am and repeat. Then the dreaded weekend comes around and we are expected to work saturday and sunday. So now not only are we basically going non stop 24 hours a day 5 days a week but we don't even get a day off on the weekend. The law says workers must legally get one day off per 6 days worked. That's a person working 40 hours a week. How about students working (I include school and homework in this) from 7:00 in the morning to 1:00am monday to friday and 9-5 saturday and sunday. You then get surprised when we skip a few days of school to sleep or book a few weeks off work to get caught up. Thank god I'm not doing that anymore!

Here's my suggestion for you parents. Don't nag your kid to get a job after school. Recognize school for what it is. A full time job. One that not only takes up 6 or 7 hours of their day but also 2-3 hours of their evening as well. It's a 9 hour a day job and you want to add another 3-5 hours a night of actual work on top of that? Fine, you do that. But I challenge you to do the same. Go out and find yourself a student type part time job that takes up your entire evening and weekend on top of your normal full time job and you'll STILL come out on top because you won't have to come home at night and spend your last waking hours doing homework. See how fast you burn out. Contrary to popular belief teenagers are not robots meant to work 24/7. They burn out, fast. They require more sleep then you do and quite simply don't get it.

That's all. Rant over. But I can hear it now. "What you're saying is that I should just let my child be lazy and they won't learn work ethic blah blah blah". Not at all, that is what school is for. That is what homework is for. It teaches responsibility and time management and that is where you as a parent come in. Teach your own damn kids work ethic. And don't think that your 16 year old child should be working their fingers to the bone and contribute to the household because they owe you nothing. You brought them into this world and they are your responsibility until they turn 18. Even then, if you care at all about their future you'll let them focus on school because in the end all a teenager sees is that going to work gets them money and going to school becomes a pain in the ass so they'll stop going! Smarten up parents, you aren't doing your kids a favour by making them work to the point of a breakdown.

-Chris

Buffering...Buffering...Buffering

So here I am waiting for a movie to finish downloading. It's at like 85% so it shouldn't be too much longer! Yay! I really kinda sorta kinda sorta kinda really want to see this movie. So that makes killing time difficult. So for your enjoyment here's a list of stuff that I've done to pass the time. Enjoy!
-Shot staples at the desk
-bleached my teeth
-played bejeweled
-sims!
-tv
-fake iphone piano
THIS

That killed about an hour. I could go to sleep but then I'd have to watch my movie in the wee hours of the morning which would be like noon tomorrow because those are my wee hours of the morning. So there. That is all. I leave you with a video of a monkey pulling a dogs tail. Ahaha...priceless. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4aPGtx7e6k

Brampton Transit Update

So I've made a lot of progress in my quest to lodge a complaint against Brampton Transit. And I take back what I said before. Brampton Transit will listen to your complaint and investigate the incident... well, as long as you are relentless and do what I did. What is that? Well keep your pants on, I'll tell you!

So I basically called them, it went straight to voicemail and they would call me back later when it was convenient for them (and somehow I was never around a phone. I swear they were watching me and waiting until they knew I wouldn't pick up) and leave me a voicemail telling me buses were delayed due to traffic. So I called back and left a message saying I realize buses are late sometimes but come on, this one just didn't bother showing up at all. They would then leave me a message saying the same thing they said before. All I wanted to do was get my complaint heard so I looked up their customer support email addy and sent them a nice long email! Well I immediately recieved a robot reply stating they would do their best to answer me within 5 days. Not good enough. So I waited a couple days and sent a long rather detailed email to the Mayor of Brampton and bingo. That was the right move. She sent me a response within half an hour. She completely understood my complaint and seemed genuinely sorry and troubled by my experience with the people at (the lack of) customer service. So she asked if she could contact the transit director on my behalf and I was more then happy to agree. Today I recieve an e-mail aknowledging my complaint and asking for more information so they can conduct an investigation. I gave them all the info they need to know and they'll take it from here.

May I just say kudos to our mayor Susan Fennell. She has yet again helped me out when the city refused. She seems to have this connection with the citizens that the rest of the city employees lack and for that I applaud her. Keep up the great work Mayor and you will continue to have my support in the following years.

So, moral of the story? Don't let people push you around. If you have a genuine complaint then make sure your voices are heard. Don't assume things will change on their own if you don't speak up because they won't. This doesn't just apply to my specific situation. It applies in all areas of business. If you are paying for a product and service and you aren't satisfied then why should you have to suffer? That is all for today. Ramble over ;-)

Sincerely,
SATISFIED customer