10th
June
2012
One of our local big box retail outlets has a problem. Staff. Although they have inventory up the yin-yang, there is little chance that a potential customer will find a particular item, unless he trips over it. Forget asking one of the people in the red shirts that are rumoured to work there. If they don’t get to their hiding hole before you arrive within speaking distance, the information will be useless. This afternoon, I was looking for a particular item; heck, I even printed out their webpage to ensure the correct SKU. I was sent to four different sections of the store and in spite of my persistence…
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posted in economy |
9th
June
2012
Should we, or shouldn’t we? Does a new vehicle mean “road trip”, or does it require careful “breaking in”? The dealer didn’t mention anything to us, but given the “47 sales and counting for this week”, he may have had other things on his mind (commission cheques, etc.) No ecmatter. At this time of year, we have no place to go and no time to do so. End of year in schools is hectic.
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posted in travel |
8th
June
2012
Out with the blue and in with the grey. After a leisurely (but expensive) second visit to the auto dealer, the deed is done. The Versa has morphed into a Rogue.
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posted in computing, technology |
7th
June
2012
What with the constant incursions into our privacy, perhaps a little paranoia is reasonable. Identity theft, posting of passwords (by the millions), ongoing escalation of “watching” by various government agencies; all bricks from the collapsing wall around our persona.
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posted in ham radio, politics |
6th
June
2012
Please pause for a moment, before reading much further. Ray Bradbury is gone. As a writer that showed the rest of us that “even books might disappear” with the wrong government in power (yes, I’m thinking the same thing as a few other Canadians), he had an important message. And I learned the temperature of burning paper (plus or minus a bunch of degrees). Therefore, an important commentator AND a nce teacher.
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posted in environment |
5th
June
2012
Time for some disambiguation (one of my favourite words). This evening, I’m stuck on the term transit.
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posted in education |
4th
June
2012
Which school of economic thought preaches that we should spend our way through a recession? How about a depression? I really don’t need to know. After all, when my money is gone, even the school of thought isn’t going to bail me out. Unlike the banks….
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posted in economy |
3rd
June
2012
When you have thousands of protesters, you can’t act like a parent who has had enough. The threat that you will be sent to your room without dessert isn’t enough. Let’s look at some of the odd reactions we are getting, here in Quebec.
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posted in media, politics |
2nd
June
2012
A rainy afternoon visit to the local flea market has allowed me to complete a project. One of the rules of amateur radio is that you can’t broadcast just anything at all. Hence, the need for something called a dummy load. Imagine a small collection of resistors, carefully matched to provide a measured resistance, with sufficient ability to dissipate a given amount of energy. Sounds simple. Except, as an amateur radio operator, there’s a rule that says you must limit your spending (and your transmitted power) to the amount required to get the job done.
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posted in ham radio |
1st
June
2012
A little free association this evening. Or, how to move from the desire for a pita sandwich to the purchase of a chair, in ten easy steps.
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posted in environment |
