Financial Rape

Years ago my view of banks began to change. I had an account (about 12 years) at the Royal Bank, since I was a child.

I was pushed to use the bank machine for my transactions instead of going to the tellers. One day when I tried to withdraw $20.00 from my account I was informed that my Debit Card was being confiscated and I needed to see the bank manager. What the...?

So I go to see the bank manager to find out what is going on. She proceeds to lecture me about fraudulent and irresponsible behaviors on my part. I am to be put on 6 month probation at the bank with no use of a Debit Card during that time. Then they would re-evaluate whether I could have one again. A service fee was also applied to my account, which then over-drafted it. I was stunned. When I asked why she informed me that my employer's paycheck (of around $300.00) had bounced two days before.

I reminded her of a few things:

• I am lending them my money. 
• The bank is not doing me a favor by giving me access to my money. 
• My employer caused the issue, not me.

I asked her what she was going to do about my account. She said "Nothing, Bank Policy". I told her to close my accounts and the bank could 'f-off'.

Keepin' It Real

There are so many reality shows on TV now it's ridiculous. I don't get why they are so popular. Because we are told they are? Because they come in so many flavors? They are so scripted and fake (gasp!) that the storylines are laughably easily to see.

What I find the most insulting is the premise that I am supposed to watch over-privileged people who are famous only because they're on TV, not because they were anybody important already. Self-fulfilling.

Watching the show puts loads money into the pockets of (usually) already wealthy people. Payouts can range from $40,000 per episode to $280,000 a year!

Unfortunately I am unable to remove and not pay for just the stations airing this garbage or I lose thew ones I actually like.

Fortunately most of these people end up consumed and dumped because of their greed.

Idiot on Board

I'm raising my kids to NOT be like this guy. When this car pulled in there were no cars in either of the two spaces, or over the lines to either side of these spaces to cause this.

I thought it would be funny to get two cars to park on either side of this goof really close so he has trouble getting into his car despite the "special" parking job. Maybe put a big "Caution: New Driver" sign on the top of the car as well.

Note the position of both the Line, and the Jerk. There, I feel better now.

Wal-Smart Crosswalks

Wal-Mart paints crosswalk lines from one end of the building to the other, making the entire front of the parking lot a "crosswalk". By definition a crosswalk is: "A path marked off on a street to indicate where pedestrians should cross". Also, "Crosswalk lines should not be used indiscriminately. An engineering study should be performed before they are installed at locations away from traffic signals or STOP signs."

I can only assume that paining lines across the entire front of the parking lot allows their shoppers (money) faster access to oversized carts for shopping.

Unfortunately people now assume that as long as they are walking on this zone the can walk in front of moving vehicles without even looking. I've had children run out in front of my vehicle from behind parked cars and the parents give ME a dirty look. People walk out in front and look the other way, or just walk down the middle of the road.

I see this happening all over the place now, like it's socially acceptable. This stupidity is spreading like a disease. We need a cure.

Name That Tune

Sometimes I hear a new song and it really stands out. Something about it grabs my attention and I have to find it. If I don't know what it was I may never hear it again! Extreme, but I love good music. Well music that I think is good anyway. I usually find about one a month. It's more about the hunt for a great tune.

Foster The People "Pumped Up Kicks"

Sports Injury

I can't stand parents who put their kids in sports to make themselves feel better. The kids are out there trying, and maybe (gasp) having fun. Then you get a parent yelling at not just their own kid, but any that don't perform up to their standard.

Most of the time these parents look like they couldn't play the sport themselves, let alone last the whole game. They need to get off their ass and play something like ballhockey. They wouldn't last ten minutes without getting knocked on their ass.

I was yelled at for doing a dumb play and it pissed me off. How would an eight year old take it? Suck it up buttercup! What a bunch of crap.

You Smell Smurfy

I wonder if they'd smell like mould? Not very appealing if you're a girl. I guess it wouldn't matter though, she's the only one... Just saying.

Bleepity-bleep-bleep

Recently saw a Geico ad where a robot was reading a story to kids, but all they could hear was this electronic gibberish. My son and I laughed, but for different reasons. He laughed because it was ridiculous to have that happen. I laughed because it was the sound every computer made when it was connecting to the internet back in the day...

Twatter and the Bookface

Well the Interweb ain't what it used to be. Nobody cared if I bought some socks or if I had a tuna-fish sandwich yesterday. I'd probably get punched in the face for wasting someone's time on stupid shit.

We didn't need to text a message to somebody in the same house. In fact if we did something like that we would be laughed at for being an idiot. I must be old.

Lightning Bolt!

I do product support and documentation for a real estate website company. A small, fairly new company, but it's been a pretty good environment to work in. I periodically make spoof graphics and send them out to staff. I can't post many of the images online, but here are a few...

Clickety-Click Barba-Trick

The Barbapapas was a classic (albeit weird) show I loved in the 70's. Great messages for kids and fun to watch. I always wondered though about the black child 'Barbabeau'. Why is he the only hairy one? Maybe Barbamama gets around...

Horizons

It's scary how quickly you become irrelevant in the world as you get older. Not yet out of my 30's and I feel like time is running out. When you're a kid you have all these plans or at least ideas about what will happen, but the older you get the narrower the road becomes. Some is placed on us, but most we do ourselves. We're our own worst enemy most of the time.

Almighty Painting

I used to get a kick out of "The Happy Painter" show with William Alexander. He was so passionate about his paintings. I always looked forward to hearing him say "Take your almighty brush!" and "Let's add fire!" Classic.

Tiny Reminders

Years ago when I was working as the 'anything with a plug' tech guy for a non-profit I started a newsgroup on our server titled "Ramblings Of A Madman". Being the IT Manager (among other things) I ran the server and learned to dislike and mistrust computers, or maybe just Windows. I decided to make the change to a Mac to have some peace of mind.

I went to a Mac store and got one spec'd out. I was pretty excited. Then I got the quote. $4,800.00! Not including the Adobe software I needed. Since I could build a faster PC myself with software for $2,100.00 it was a no-brainer. I just wasn't into paying more than double for an elitist attitude. The way I was dealt with felt like they were doing me a favor by letting me buy something from them. Give me a break, it wasn't a Lamborghini store!

Something Nice

Learning Adobe Illustrator CS5 right now. Don't know why I didn't do this sooner. Never took the time I guess. Plowing through about 40hrs of training from Basic to Mastery. Glad I don't still have an old CRT screen for that!

Been a Photoshop guy since v4.0 circa 1997. Fell in love with it because it let me create visually what I saw in my head. Of course early files were a bit crappy, and the 'Text' got rasterized every time you switched layers. Frustrating, but was fixed in v5.

Back to training....

Complements

Why are complements so hard to take? I feel the urge to diminish or suppress it by downplaying or pointing out a fault. Simply saying 'yes' or just agreeing feels egotistical though. Made in Canada eh?