The That Which Must Not Be Named Program just pulled off another one of their famous retroactive changes. They've changed the year-end price of a particular commodity in 2006, resulting in lots of people now having their benefits overpaid for that year and now are owing money back.
It's complicated to explain so I won't even bother, but I've got a sinking feeling that at any moment I will have to atone for yet another sin they've committed.
The Sith Lords are gaining in strength, the Office Jedi cannot possibly hold back the ever-expanding shroud of the dark side of the Force...
"Albertans who forget to dial a three digit prefix when punching in local phone numbers today will hear an automated recording reminding them to add the extra numbers starting this fall."
Who wants to bet that Calgary Transit will raise the price of a monthly pass another $5 so that it will cover replacing the Teleride phone number stickers on all the bus stop signs in town?
It would be worth it if Teleride or their website even work in the first place. True story: once I was using CalgaryTransit.com's online trip planning "feature" to see how long it would take for me to get from my home in the northwest to Chinook Centre in time for a movie. It said that Chinook Centre was 2 blocks east of my house.
Now if you know your Calgary geography, this was too much to take. But if not, here's my point, and I do have one:
This actually happened this morning on the C-Train at a little after 7:30 AM. I couldn't tweet as it was happening for a couple of reasons:
The train station that I had to get off at was just minutes away.
This could not fit in Twitter's 140 character limit.
Other stuff that will soon become very obvious.
I got on the C-Train downtown at Centre Street Station, as I have to do every day as part of my commute. I found a seat, and started to read my newspaper while I was listening to my radio show. (I always pick up a copy of Metro for the train ride and I leave it behind in the office's kitchen. For the record, I also read the Postonline at work with my coffee.)
I was sitting there minding my own business when a drunk guy fell into the seat in front of me and started talking really loudly to various other passengers. I couldn't make out what he was saying, as I was still listening to my radio and I was trying to ignore him. This guy was making various drunken accusations and was starting to bother me and the other riders.
When the train stopped at Bridgeland Station, some other guy from behind me came out from nowhere, grabbed the drunk guy by the shoulders, lifted him out of the seat, he fell to the ground, and was thrown out of the train's open door onto the station's platform! The train doors then closed, and the drunk guy tried to get back in, but the train was then pulling out and he got sideswiped! I saw the drunk guy do a 180° when his front came in contact with the moving train and he fell below the bottom edge of the window! I can only assume that he ended up in a heap right on the edge of the platform, as the gap is not big enough for somebody to fall in. For all I know, he might've rolled off onto the track after my train was gone.
I decided not to tweet this as it happened, because I thought that pulling out the überphone at that place and time might not be a good idea. I just took a quick glance at it and faked as if I heard it ring. (And I've gotten quite good at it as nobody calls me.)
So that's the story of my commute this morning, but I'll bet it's just typical for Calgary Transit these days. The transit police or the regular cops that patrol the C-Train lines were not there, so this was the first time I've ever seen this kind of vigilantism first-hand.
Glad to know that Calgary Transit is spending my $75/month on top-shelf rider security.
"Stock Ale is not alone in being able to surprise people with its very existence. It belongs to a food and beverage category we could call "fossil brands," after the fossil species that cling to the margins of some ecosystem for millions of years while barely evolving, like ginkgo trees and coelacanth fish."
I had decided that it was time to upgrade my current cellphone, a Samsung SCH A670. I wanted something that could take better pictures for my photostream, and it's 0.3 megapixel camera just wasn't cutting it anymore.
After looking over the new phones that Telus Mobility has and looking at pictures taken with them on Flickr, I had decided on getting the LG VENUS. And also, Best Buy was advertising the phone at a steal for $80 with a plan activation. I wanted to switch from prepaid service to a monthly plan as well so this would fit in perfectly. So I went to the store and asked the cellphone guy if I could get the LG VENUS and switch over my account from prepaid to a plan.
He said I can't do it. As I'm already a Telus customer, I would have to pay the full $400 retail price for the phone, and arrange with Telus itself to switch my account over, and beg and plead with them for permission to do it first. I was understandably ticked off.
So I went to the Sunridge Best Buy store and asked the cellphone guy for the N95 and for my phone number to be moved over.
He said I can't do it. The only store employee who knew their access codes to the Rogers network wasn't in so they couldn't do any new activations. I was understandably ticked off, but he suggested I try the Rogers store in the mall.
So I went to the Sunridge Rogers store and asked the cellphone girl for the N95 and for my phone number to be moved over and asked if they would match Best Buy's sale price.
She said I can't do it. If I wanted to signup, I would have to pay the full retail price for the phone, which was $500. I was understandably ticked off.
So I took a cab to another mall to try another Best Buy. I asked the cellphone guy for the N95 and for my phone number to be moved over.
He said I can't do it. Again, the only store employee who knew their access codes to the Rogers network wouldn't be in until 6 so they couldn't do any new activations. I was understandably ticked off, but he suggested I try the Rogers store in the mall as they also only had one N95 on the shelf and it was reserved for somebody else.
So I went to the Northland Rogers store and asked the cellphone guy for the N95 and for my phone number to be moved over and asked if they would match Best Buy's sale price.
He said he would knock it down to $300, not $250, but he told me that Best Buy was selling out of them nationwide.
So I signed up with Rogers and moved over my number and got my kick-ass new phone right there in the store and I'm loving it. I won't turn this into a gadget review blog by describing all the stuff it can do, but it's essentially a palmtop computer with a focus on multimedia and entertainment. It's not a BlackBerry, nor does it strive to be.
So I now have one of the most advanced cellphones in North America in my pocket. That is, until the iPhone comes here on July 11th, but I have no buyer's remorse in my decision. The Nokia N95 will last me for a long time.
In closing, shortly after I got the N95 Mom sent me this video:
TiVo recommended for me the movie Black Belt Jones a while ago, and I finally got around to watching it tonight. Really cheesy movie, but it was fun. Blaxploitation and martial arts together in one film? It's like a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup; two great tastes that go great together:
"Stephen Colbert announced on his show Tuesday evening the drama that had ensued in Canada due to the CBC's decision to drop the song (followed by snickers from the audience when the song was considered our second national anthem in the CBC newscast Colbert aired). Colbert told the crowd it was America's chance to own the most prized arctic resource."
