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The Ottawa Rabbit Hole |
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June 2006 : Credits :
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Monday, August 04, 2008Mile High CitySo I'm in Denver, CO for a conference for work. Despite United Airlines best attempts, both me and my suitcase arrived on time last night. I foolishly had forgotten it's a pain to fly to the States, so I arrived at the airport just about 50 minutes before my flight (also thanks to Blueline Taxi who never sent the cab I called for). They said they closed the plane an hour before the flight, so I threw a bunch of stuff into my carry on and said to put the luggage on the next plane to Chicago (where I connected) as long as I get there. Their computers were also down, so they had to write out my boarding pass by hand and couldn't give me one for my connecting flight. I basically assumed I would never see my suitcase again. When I got to Chicago, thanks to an unrelated screw up there was a line about 30 people deep at my gate with a standy by list of 100+ for my flight. I finally got my boarding pass printed at the last minute but didn't even bother asking about my bag since they weren't exactly the friendliest of people. It was to my delight when I got to Denver and typed my luggage tag # into their computer it said that my bag was assigned to carousel 16...and sure enough a few minutes later it came. Kudos to you United for somehow getting my luggage there. Now fire that stupid lady in Ottawa and hire somebody who knows what's actually going on. They next part of my adventure was a $60 cab ride from the airport which is about 27 miles out of downtown, and a successful check in into my hotel which I had booked under the false pretense that I was a US gov't employee. Thankfully my assumption that they would never verify that was correct...my print out just had some vague reference that said 'United States'..great system. As for Denver, it is a very practical city. Nice grid layout downtown, big conference center and all major stadiums very close. There is a street that runs the length of downtown that's called the mall which is lined with stores and restaurants. Plus they have a free bus that runs constantly down the length of this street. You never have to wait more than about 30 seconds for the next one. Oh and despite what you may think, there aren't that many mountains around. False advertising. Below is a map of downtown Denver. I do not plan to live this grid, other than going back to the airport. I've got a ticket to Wednesday's Rockies game, and other than that I'm not sure how I'll pass my time. I've already walked the length of the mall street. I'm glad my hotel has HBO.   
Thursday, June 19, 2008Even Less to Say...Wow...that last blog entry was so well received I feel I have no choice but to do a follow up. It hit the web on such high quality blogs as The Uhrblog and Train's Station. I highly recommend you read what these guys have to say. You will lead a better life for it. Other than that I have even less to say than last time, so here is some rambling about pop culture. If all goes according to plan, this entry will be so inane nobody will care when it disappears again. I cannot wait to see The Love Guru tank which by all accounts it should do. I've liked Mike Myers in the past, but sometimes he just comes across as a smarmy bastard and he deserves to be knocked down a peg. One review I read likened it to Meet the Spartans, an abysmal 45 minutes of my life (I fastforwarded through a lot of it since jokes last about 5 minutes) I'll never get back and deserves the 2% rating it got. Whereas the Love Guru ads make it look as awful as it probably is, I'm pleasantly surprised by some clips from Get Smart. I think it's an awful idea but it is starting to grow on me. Plus I can't stand to see Steve Carrell suffer another Evan Almighty style bomb. To complete my trifecta of movie talk, I recently saw The Happening. All I can about this one is that it should have been called The Crappening. (I'm willing to sell that joke to SNL Weekend Update for $5000 by the way). M. Night Shamaylan's stock has officially fallen lower than that of Galantas Gold Corporation (a fine little Irish Gold mining company you should all pick up). I'm heading to Belleville for Big Music Fest this weekend, and the forecast looks like some lovely rain is on the way! Even more exciting than that concert though, is the Friday night private engagement by Distillery, the loudest band in Ontario. If all goes according to plan, I won't hear a thing on Saturday. Here they are belting out a classic. Good night internet. Have a great weekend.
Thursday, June 12, 2008447 Days...Since my last blog posting. Is this an incredible return to form of daily posting? Probably not. For whatever reason the mood took me today. Seeing as how I haven't posted in over a year I'm guessing nobody actually reads this anymore, but for anybody who has this pop up in their RSS feed...enjoy!! Here are some interesting topics that popped up lately: 1) David Suzuki is an asshole. He told me to get low power fluorescent light bulbs, so I did. Here's the problem, they attract bugs from outside like most lights but because they are low wattage they do not have the power to kill these bugs. I then get a dozen or so bugs camping out on my wall. Disgusting. Somehow these things are smart enough to navigate passed my screen door. I solve this problem by closing my patio door and cranking my AC, thereby using a lot more electricity than my old light bulbs ever did. I guess Suzuki is such a dirty hippie he's used to living with bugs so it's not a big issue for him. 2) Last night I realized I am the oldest person on my 3-pitch co-ed softball team. I want to thank Skip for making room on his roster for a crafty old veteran like me instead of filling it up with big swinging young punks. I'll do my best to live up to the nickname 'Oil Can'. 3) After struggling through Catch-22 for 3 months, I forgot what it is like to read a good book. I picked up Generation Kill by Evan Wright from the library to prepare for the David Simon miniseries coming in July and it is a captivating read. The author tagged along with an elite Marine unit during the first days of the Iraq war. I predict less than a week to bang through this bad boy. Highly recommended! Actually Catch-22 was really good too...just tough to get through due to it not having a linear story telling method. 4) I am on the hunt for a new pillow. Up to this point the big winner has been a $5 Zellers pillow, and forays into cheap down pillows have been unsuccessful. I need to see what is out there. Costco offers both down and memory foam pillows for the low low price of $25. I will buy both and return whichever one provides the least sleep. 5) In order to prepare to see Martin Scorsese's Rolling Stones documentary/concert 'Shine a Light' tonight I have purchased his Bob Dylan documentary/concert DVD 'No Direction Home'. After about 10 minutes it is all good. 6) A-Train, if you ever read this, I promise I will blog an in depth character study of Clarence Boddicker by the end of the summer. Boy this has really tired me out. See you in a year!
Thursday, March 22, 2007and the 2006 Slashie goes to...After being knocked out of the park one too many times by Robin Williams' depth and ability to both bring the laughs in some films while making you think in others, Mullins and I decided he deserved an award for being a solid comedy / dramatic actor...and thus the Slashies were born. Upon further thought, we realized that he is not the only such talented actor who can show such range to make you cry from both laughter and emotion. In order to qualify for a Slashie, an actor must be in an outright comedy as well as a drama (although in certain cases a dramedy will be appropriate for this category) within the same year of release. The winner will be judged on the quality of both films in its respective genre. Without further adieu...your 2006 Slashie nominees... 1. Robin Williams - Comedy: RV / Drama: Man of the Year 2. Greg Kinnear - Comedy: Little Miss Sunshine / Drama: Invincible 3. Matthew McConaughey - Comedy: Failure to Launch / Drama: We Are Marshall 4. Will Ferrell - Comedy: Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby / Drama: Stranger Than Fiction 5. Jack Black - Comedy: Nacho Libre / Drama: The Holiday and the 2006 Slashie goes to...  WILL FERRELL!!! Funny man Will Ferrell's portrayal of NASCAR legend Ricky Bobby had audiences rolling in the aisles while his role as Harold Crick, an IRS auditor who begins hearing a narration of his life in his head made the world realize that sometimes even clowns have to be taken seriously. So until next year when the 2007 Slashies are announced, enjoy the movies and remember that just because an actor is best known for making you chuckle, it doesn't mean he can't make you think at the same time.
Wednesday, March 07, 2007Free Oil Change!?!?!In preparation for a trip to the city of lights, angels and sins (aka Toronto) I took my ole green Sunfire in for an oil change at my usual haunt of Surgenor Pontiac Buick. I did a drive in and lucked out that there seemed to be nobody else waiting so it only took about 40 minutes. I passed the time by reading the free Ottawa Citizen they provided, drinking their free water and watching baseball on their plasma television! If I had researched ahead I could have brought my laptop and updated my Facebook information using their free WiFi connection. Incredible!!! When I went up to pay, the friendly lady behind the counter checked out my account and found out I was due a free oil change! Every time I go they give me a little paper card with one stamp which I always lose/throw out. Apparently they keep track of this information without the cards and I was due! Total charge to me...$0. Along with my receipt she gave me a new card with 6 blank spots for my next visit...I will be sure not to bring this with me as it is clearly not necessary. This experience has assured Surgenor of my business for oil changes to come! Usually I hate getting oil changes but they put me through like a champ. Much better than the time I got screwed over by the service department at Turpin (they charged my for a 'free' loaner car). I got my money back eventually, but I was not a happy camper. In fact, I am now putting Turpin retroactively ON NOTICE! They join the elite club of the Sheraton Hotel in Ottawa and Mastercard who have screwed me over more recently and still owe me ~$90. Another awesome thing that happened today...new Quiznos coupons!!! These little guys are good until April, so I stole a couple more out of the bin. I can't believe some idiot would throw these out...they are missing out huge on some deliciousness and huge savings.
Thursday, March 01, 2007Catching UpHello Blog readers (and those reading this on Facebook)! Are there any of you left? Do you faithfully check the Rabbit Hole every day only to be disappointed? I either had a really boring month and nothing to blog about, or I was so busy I couldn't be bothered to tell the internet. Well the wait is over! I have decided to do my monthly blog to catch everybody up. Here are a few things that happened in the past month (in no particular order): - Got a new pair of glasses which have been described as both 'trendy' and 'a la mode' - Found out I am a dead ringer for Kenneth Branagh - Went to a cottage at Tremblant for a weekend - Did not go to Quebec City for a weekend - Discovered he cannot ride a tiny bike - Bought a 42" HDTV Panasonic Plasma (please do not break into my apartment) - Got screwed out of $91 by the Ottawa Sheraton and Mastercard (they are both on notice) - Lost a lot of volleyball games - Held an incredible Winterlude party - Spent a couple nights up at a cottage - Wrestled a tiger to the ground - Watched Casino Royale and was the most confused I've ever been in my life Well that's it. One of those things is not true...I will let you puzzle over that until I reveal the answer in my next blog entry! Enjoy the coming Spring internet.
Tuesday, January 23, 2007Thank you Elizabeth B!Over Christmas I bought a new laptop from dell.ca. One of their current promotions is that all computers purchased can be upgraded to Windows Vista for free. Well the other day I tried to finally do my upgrade and it said my system wasn't eligible. Grrr! I had heard the day before on the radio that Dell was voted as having worst customer service since they outsourced a lot to India. Well my first attempt was writing an email which I never heard back from in 3 or 4 days. Unacceptable!! Today I took matters back into my hands and did an online chat with a customer service rep. Well Elizabeth B looked into my situation and had things cleared up in under 5 minutes. Now I'm sure Elizabeth B is really a 45 year old Indian woman...but God bless her. Check out this incredible conversation:
I have also recently had great customer service help from Chapters.ca who screwed up my order but fixed things within 24 hours. Next up...ING Direct. They have been very tardy in replying to my boy Purdy's question that has $26 on the line.
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