November at 2007 at The Observer's Log

Archive for November, 2007

I want to fly Virgin America

30 Nov 2007

One of my coworkers sent around this video. Really makes you appreciate a company that pays attention to the fact that no-one actually pays attention to the safety briefings. WestJet needs to take a hint, as they’ve gotten a little dull over the last few years. Spruce up the speech a bit.

If only Virgin America flew to Canada. I could watch this video over and over and over and over…

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Drywall ain’t light

29 Nov 2007

After work tonight, I zipped down to the Home Depot to get more building supplies. Namely, sheetrock. I’m almost ready to start putting the stuff up (I might even start tonight, if I can get all the insulation in place), and I’m running out of time before Alex gets back.

This is sort of my own private “While You Were Out”. The problem is that this is a one-man job. I don’t have any help. That means I have to do everything myself. Including lugging 30 sheets of sheetrock.

And this stuff ain’t light.

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Laminate flooring sucks

27 Nov 2007

I state this now: I will never use laminate flooring again. Ever. I don’t care how inexpensive and near-indestructable it is — the stuff simply is not well-designed and is far too cumbersome for one person to install alone. The need for a second person is ridiculous and if nothing else points out the usability of the product.

I’m ranting because I’m on night #2 trying to get this stuff into the basement while Alex and the wee one are out of town. I’m pulling long nights, spending virtually every moment downstairs wrestling with a Tarkett laminate we purchased a couple of weekends ago.

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We have a travel-safe baby

24 Nov 2007

I’ve had the luxury of travelling many places of the last few years. Of those times, I’ve been on more than a few planes that were exhibit to babies that did not travel well. And by not travelling well, I mean they cried.

A lot. Loudly. Ear-piercingly.

My biggest fear is that we would have one of those children. Loud. Ear-piercingly. So instead of casting disapproving glances at others, we would be the recipients of such withering glances as to kill off entire forests.

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Google starting to slip

21 Nov 2007

Admittedly, this is more of a question than a statement, but make no mistake — I”m not merely asking if this is true.

For the last several years, Google has been a juggernaut, able to release whatever they felt like and it was received with open (and anxious, often with reckless abandon) arms. We”ve all enjoyed such wonders as Google Search, Google AdWords, Google Maps, Google Translate, Google Earth, Blogger, Gmail, Google Groups, Google Analytics, Google Desktop, and the Google Search Appliance.

But I wonder if Google”s run out of cool stuff to freely hand out, and are beginning to scrape the bottom of the barrel.

Continue reading â€˜Google starting to slip” at Experience Matters

West LRT Line in Calgary approved

21 Nov 2007

It’s official — I’m going to be able to ride the C-Train to work in four years. Sounds like a long time away, but the reality is that this is going to make my life a lot better. Back when I used to live in Sunnyside, I periodically took the C-Train to work — though it was really more like cheating given the short distance.

But I’m almost back to driving to try and make up 30 minutes a day from travelling on buses and waiting for them to show up (basically, a 1.5 hour round-trip commute). This would help since the trains run near-constantly during rush hour, and cut down on the amount of walking I have to do!

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Canada’s history is wasted on its youth

19 Nov 2007

The CBC published a news article about how Canada’s youth scores a measly 18% on a Canadian history quiz. Everyone is aghast at the marks — are we truly that bad at our own history?

Of course we are. Because we haven’t the ability to appreciate it.

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Calgary is big enough for better transit

16 Nov 2007

As I’ve said before, I’m no expert. I haven’t been everywhere or done everything. But one thing I have done is paid attention to public transit systems, especially the ones I’ve had to deal with on a daily basis.

Such as the one in Calgary. You already know [[Calgary Transit Sucks|how I feel about our beloved transit system]]. And we’re long overdue to consider how much bigger it should be.

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Bank of Montreal, I hate your security

14 Nov 2007

Oh. My. Lord.

I haven’t been this pissed off in a very, very long time. I actually yelled at the poor person on the phone trying to help me. It’s not her fault. It’s the Bank of Montreal. Who obviously has NO FUCKING CLUE what it’s like to live in the digital age.

Allow me to elaborate…

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Office Influentials

11 Nov 2007

A few months ago, we scooped David Armano. At the time, I’d never heard of the guy. Since having had the pleasure of working with him on Experience Matters, I’m come to truly admire the level of insight he has on even the most seemingly mundane things. (Not that he is mundane, but he makes the obviously boring suddenly unique and misunderstood.)

Take his most recent post: Office Influentials. You might not think about it, but I’ll lay bets you’ve got these sorts of people in your office right now. You just don’t know it. Look around. Heck, one of these might even be you…