Well I'm one week into Movemeber and the 'Stache is really starting to fill in. In the spirit of Movember - and as a tribute to all it's participants - I have compiled a list of my 30 favorite mustaches of ALL TIME! Gentlemen, you are now in the same class as these distinguished individuals. Please donate now to this great cause http://ca.movember.com/mospace/71602
Back in the third or fourth grade plenty of time and resources were spent teaching me to write in "perfect cursive". I even remember the motivational tactic my teacher used in the lessons! Once you passed all of your cursive tests you would get your "pen license", and your pen license allowed you to use pens instead of pencils in class. To some extent that strategy actually worked too! I remember working hard at perfecting my hand writing so I could use a pen.
My only question is, "why"? Why was it important to learn cursive? I mean, I always print and so do most of the people I know. Especially the ones in my age group. So why was so much time dedicated to us learning cursive? Could that time not have been spent teaching us something a little more useful? You see, to me printing is the most legible form of penmanship. Even bad printing is still comprehensible. Bad cursive on the other hand? Well that's a different story! In fact by the time I was in high school, teachers were asking us to print all assignments!
To me, cursive is a lot like chopsticks. Sure they're fun to use, but really we all prefer forks!
This afternoon in the lunchroom at work, some of my colleagues were discussing the amount of fees charged to our utilities and how it impacts conservation and cost savings. The theory was that the impact conservation has on cost savings is minimal as it is actually the extra charges that are making these services more expensive. So tonight I have decided to do a little research with my own bills.
I have taken multiple bills from my Water, Hydro, and Gas bills and broke down every charge as a percentage of the total charges. Here are my findings :
So my total electricity that I have purchased represents only 45.45% of my total bill and I am paying almost an equal amount for the transfer of the electricity through a wire! What I like the most though is the Debt Retirement Charge. I don't even know what the hell that is! It sounds like something that isn't really my problem though.
Gas Bill
Customer Charge - 25.64%
Delivery to You - 17.30%
Transportation to Enbridge -11.29%
Gas Supply Charge - 45.77%
Alright, I am confused about what the difference is between the Customer Charge and Gas Supply Charge. I would say that the Gas Supply Charge is my usage, but that would mean that 25.64% of my bill is a charge for the privilege of being an Enbridge Gas customer!
Water Bill
Water Consumption - 21.89%
Water Service Charge - 30.66%
Sewer Charge - 35.76%
Sewer Service Charge - 11.69%
So the water in which I used represents only 21.89% of my total bill. The sad part about this one is that the water department is run by the local regional government. I understand that I need to pay for sewers and pipes and processing of the water, but I thought that was one of the reasons why my property taxes are so high! And what the hell is a Water Service Charge, and why does it cost so much more than the actual water?!!
In Conclusion
To be fair, all of the fees on my bills increased with the total amount of product consumed, so conserving will have a positive impact on the total of your monthly bills. But that does not excuse the blatant gouging that is happening with out utilities. We all get angry about how outrageous the price of gas for our automobiles fluctuate, but these utility fees seem to be slipping by without detection. Where are the countless front-page headlines taking these utility companies to task? Where are the protests about the inflated Water Service Charge? This might just be another reason to research other means for fulfilling our utility needs. Maybe it isn't that much more expensive. After all, we would be dropping all those service charges!
At one point during that annoyingly hilarious SlapChop ad, Vince states "... stop having a boring tuna, stop having a boring life!" Later in that same scene he goes as far as to say "... now you can have an exciting life." Well last February our neighbours gave us one of their SlapChops (you get two when you buy one!), so I thought I should maybe put these claims of life enhancing abilities of the SlapChop to the test!
So I guess it started last February. Andrea and I were finally getting back to normal after the Christmas season. Bills were paid, and life was good. Our neighbor gives us a call one evening to inform us that she had just purchased the SlapChop from the TV. Having laughed with them about the commercial for so long, this was actually exciting news. Perhaps that's the best analogy of my life before SlapChop (or BSC, as I call it now). Imagine, two grown adults excited about a new chopping device that the people next door bought!
After waiting the 5 business days, Andrea and I were both beside ourselves when our generous neighbors offered us one of their SlapChops! Little did I realize the adventure that was about to unfold before me.
LIFE AFTER SLAP CHOP! (ASP)
In order to prevent a long-winded blog post, I will just list the magnificent events that have come from the last six months of SlapChop ownership.
1) I have been reconnected with an old friend. Seriously! I haven't seen Mike in a few years, and now he lives with me!!! That alone has provided us with excitement!
2) I started a business! Power Business Services (PBS) is up and running. Sure it's a side business, but it's still a business. With one regular customer and another with potential, the future of PBS is looking up.
3) We're pregnant!!!! After a lot of trying it finally happened!
4) I now run two blogs with a third on the way! Not only do I run the blogs, but I am currently setting up an interview with one of the organizers of the original Woodstock. Stay tuned for that!
5) I have been reconnected with another old friend! I haven't spoke with Jay for about four years, and now I am am trying to convince him to co-run one of my blogs!
6) I'm an uncle!! That's right, on May 5, 2010 my beautiful niece Logan was born.
So as you can see, without a shadow of a doubt, the SlapChop has actually prevented me from living a boring life!
Thank you SlapChop, I can't imagine what would have happened if we actually tried using you for chopping stuff!
As many of you know, Andrea an I are having a baby. Awe! So as a direct result of that news you can expect many baby posts here on Tumblr. To start the barrage of “what, does he think he’s the only one to have a baby” posts I want to discuss the unusual units of measure used to describe the size of the little growing person inside.
So far we’ve been through - subway token, quarter, peanut, apricot, lime, and peach - to describe the size of our Little Sprout! Now I know that by relating the size of our baby to an object that we are already familiar with will allow us to better understand the actual size. What seems strange to me is that almost every doctor, web site, & book seem to use the same comparisons as though we are stuck with only monetary or produce inspired examples. It would be nice to hear a couple of different products, like “can of tuna” or “baseball”! But maybe that’s just me…
Until next time!
P.S. For a list of produce comparisons click this link http://bit.ly/dcLf5F
We are now well in to 2009, and I couldn't be busier. I was planning on doing more of a retrospective, but so far there is no time. I do still plan on the "A Look at '08" blog, which will include "movie", "music", and "the books I read" lists.
For now, I will leave you by saying that this is shaping up to be an exciting year career wise, and I can not get enough of Guitar Hero: World Tour!
