Well, I tried to go to the theatre last night to see Jarrhead. Key word it tried. We made it to the theatre (two of the automated ticket machines were broken so we had to stand in line), we got tickets, we found the theatre and seats.

When the previews / commercials started the bottom of the picture was on the top of the screen, it seems that getting the alignment correct is a bit hard for the projection person. Then the previews...if those are the type of movies that will be coming out its no wonder people download movies, they previews looked horrid.

Ok, fine, I did not go to the theatre to see the previews. Finally the feature presentation started. Once again, apparently it is too much to ask for the alignment of the film to be correct. It took almost a minute to fix this time, the machine must have been a bit complicated and difficult to figure out.

They finally got things working...or so we thought. Things went well for the rest of the first half, then they tried to move us along to the second reel, and this is where it all fell apart. The fact that the movie projector was so complicated that they could not align the film quickly should have warned us, alas we were unprepared. When the second reel came on it was upside down and backwards with backwards sound. The problem was so bad that it could not be fixed. They had give us passes and tell us to come back another time. End result, I have seen half of Jarrhead and I will not sit through the first half of the movie again just to see the second half.

If people want to know why some people choose to download movies instead of going to the theatre the simple answer is so that they don't have to put up with incompetent BS. Non functioning machines and theatres that can't figure out how to play movies.

As I wrote that I thought that maybe I might be asking too much. Maybe I am asking too much of the theatre to get everything perfect all the time. After all, this was the first time I've had to leave a movie because it was upside down. I don't know. Maybe it's the fact that this kind of thing happens so infrequently now that people are even more unhappy when it happens to them.

In any case, I now have to pick another time, to haul myself down to the theatre then they have a movie I want to see at a time that is as close to convenient as possible for me and my friends so that I can use the free movie pass sitting in my wallet.

The Good

Blankmedia.ca would probably be the best online retailer I have dealt with so far. I have placed orders with them twice now, the first time everything went as it should, the second had some twists but showed how to properly do business. First off, they had a product on their site that only shipped in certain multiples (multiples of 100 or 200, I don't remember) however it would have been far too much for me. In the comments field of my order I asked if it would be possible to receive only 25 of the item in question (a type of CD case). I received an e-mail from them the next day saying yes they could do what I needed and told me how much it would cost. Beautiful. I shortly received another e-mail from them saying that one of the items I had ordered was out of stock. Someone else had placed an order just before mine (minutes) and as I was already in the process of completing the order the system was not able to recognize that they were out. I was a bit disappointed, however they were very helpful in selecting another product. They had great communication through e-mail, I received my order and all was well. I will definitely buy from them again.

The bad

I am still in the process of trying to figure out what happened with my Staples.ca order. I placed my order then received an e-mail saying there was a problem with my billing information. It ended up being my fault, I forgot to put my apartment number on the form, however the tone of the e-mail I received was very poor, it sounded like they were accusing me of submitting false information on purpose. At that point no one knew what the problem was and I did not appreciate the way the e-mail was worded. It also only gave me until the end of that business day to call and correct the problem or the order would be cancelled. Not very much time at all. I managed to find some time to call them from work, the person I spoke to on the phone was very helpful and even helped me avoid a delivery problem. I had the package shipped to a Staples store as that was going to be better for me, so I went to pick it up. One of the items I ordered was there, the manager called their shipping centre and found out the other item might be out of stock. I did not receive an e-mail or any other notice that something I ordered was not available. I went home and checked my order online, nothing, it all showed normal. Staples has a very poor reputation online and I now have first hand experience with this. I now have to take up more of my time to try and figure out what their problem is. Rest assured that I will not be shopping at Staples online again and I will even be avoiding their brick and mortar stores. It is all one company, whether online or in-store, and with the low level of treatment I have received I will not be returning.

Last week I finally made it back to the pool after a six month absence. I knew it was going to be rough, but I did not think it was going to be that rough. Before I was done my second lap I knew I was in trouble. I have now been a total of three times and things are still rough, however they are improving slowly. Last year I would do 40 lengths (1000m) every time I went swimming. When I went today I finally worked my way back up to that distance.

I really like the water and I enjoy swimming, what I really really hate it getting in. Once I'm in the water I'm fine, however that first jump really sucks. It was the same when I worked at camp. The lake always seemed so cold, but after you were in for 30 seconds it felt fine.

Every time I go swimming I think about my time spent as a lifeguard and how I miss it. I really should go to St. John Ambulance and recertify my first aid, maybe even volunteer with them a bit. My main problem is that they are too far away to easily get to. I guess I shall have to ponder things a bit more.

In the mean time I have the rest of the month to swim. The pool has to close for December which is really annoying. I will spend November getting myself into so-so shape and then I won't be able to swim again until January.

Its not that I'm really that out of shape right now (although it could be a bit better). During the summer I play a lot of ultimate frisbee and bike around the city a bit. That keeps my legs in great shape, however I don't do a whole lot for my arms. Then summer finishes and I hit the pool again and now my arms are called upon to do the work and...well, its back to square one. I will have to try to do some arm exercises during December, but one of the other main reasons I go to the pool is because I don't do other types of exercise regularly.

The nice thing about having the pool on campus is that if I go in to work early (or stay late) I can take a longer lunch and go for a swim then. The noon swims are usually quieter then the afternoon ones. Its the little things, that make life more enjoyable.

I found a thread on one of forums I frequent today the deals with long distance phone service. Last summer I sublet a place where they had a long distance plan that give nearly unlimited long distance. If you can make more then 200, thirty minutes calls a month I salute you. I thought this plan was fairly impressive so when I moved into my current location I signed up with Onlinetel (Call Zone) myself. For $40 a year you get a lot of long distance.

Well, with some of the plans I found in the thread on the forum you can get even cheaper long distance. Here is a list of what was listed last time I checked:

• Win-Tel
• AdCalls
• Unitz Online
• Worldline.ca

With Call Zone (link in the first paragraph) there are at least 5 choices for dirt cheap long distance service. One word or warning, it seems you get what you pay for, if you ever have a problem don't expect quick (if any) reply. On the bright side, if you have a problem you have not lost must money as most of these plans do not have a contract. Call Zone is $40 a year. If you move onto something else who cares.

Anyways, just something to look at. I have definitely saved money on long distance, I just have not yet figured out how to make calls to numbers outside of Ontario. Oh well, one battle at a time.

I took the train to Ottawa last night (VIA Rail) and we actually arrived a couple of minutes early. What happened? What went wrong? Did hell freeze over? Normally for VIA its considered on time if they are 20 minutes late. Over the past four years, VIA has made taking the tain a horrid experience simply because you never know when you will arrive at your destination. I once left a 40 minute window for catching a GO train after arriving in Toronto, I did not make the connection.

If there has been one thing VIA has been consistent in, it has been the fact that they are at least 15 minutes late on all runs. So then I ask, what went wrong this time? I mean they can't actually wish that their customers have a good experience. Of that were the case they would have fixed their problems a long time ago.

While I was in Europe the one thing you could count on were the trains. I don't know what they do differently over there but if the schedule says that a train will arrive / depart at a certain time it would usually be a safe bet to assume timeliness. The one almost exception was when I took the Chunnel from London to Paris. The tain left about 30 minutes late. However, lo and behold we arrive in Paris on schedule to the minute. If VIA has left 30 minutes late they would arrive at least an hour late. Turst me, its happened more then once.

VIA actually being on time, never in a million year. Maybe the Maple Leafs do have a chance at the Stanley Cup, if VIA can be on time anything is possible.

I spent the past weekend in Ottawa. Some shopping was done where one of the item bought was a coat stand. While assembling the coat stand I came across the following product warning:

An 18 year old in the US has been elected mayor of his town. He is still in highschool! What makes this even more amazing is that he did not appear on the ballot. He did not turn 18 until after the deadline to file the intent to run. After finally turning 18 he registered to vote and declared himself a write-in candidate.

Getting people to go out and vote is hard enough as it is. This guy note only had to convince people to go to the polls but they had to remember his name and write it down. Many people who go to vote hardly know the platform of the person they are voting for, that is if they have even decided who to vote for before they get the ballot.

I think this achievement deserves some major kudos!

Sources:
MSNBC
The Peninsula

I believe voting and taking an interest, at the very least at a basic level, in politics is very important. In a democracy the people are supposed to hold the power. If people are apathetic then they lose their power. Talking to people that I know and looking at the media it seems that most people are under the impression that politicians are a group of self caring individuals who are out of touch with the general public. I would have to say that this is the fault of the people for being generally uncaring. Even for the people who actually get out and vote, many of them will never contact their municipal official / MP / MPP / any other elected official to let them know what they think. If the people are not willing to be part of society then they get what they deserve

Myself, I have writing municipal officials on more then one occasion. I have written letters to companies, I try my best to not be lazy and let people know how I feel. I feel that this is very important for a heathy and active society and I wish more people did it. It's as simple as finding an e-mail address and spending 5 minutes witting something down. I think if more people did this we would live in a country we would be even more proud of then we currently are.