Crappy Customer Service

Even If you Can't Agree, You're Secretly Thinking It

What with working in a part of town where actual people hang out, and then using public transit, I'm seeing a lot more topless men lately.  It is the most unsavory part of my day (next to the occasional wet crosswalk fart).

On the bus today I thought to myself, even if David Beckham got on this bus without a shirt, I'd still think it was gross.  For the record, it is disgusting for anyone, male, female or otherwise, to walk around in public without a shirt unless you are near a body of water.  It doesn't matter how ripped you are, I don't wish to see it in the course of my day.  Just put that shit away forever.  No one likes you, and when you get on the bus with no shirt on, people head for the hills, no matter how crowded it is.

Hey, wait a minute....

Welcome Downtown, My Friend

Yes, I am officially a worker bee of the downtown area.  I was standing at a crosswalk, waiting to go back into the Ugly Government Building and a dude in a fouled Canadian Tuxedo let out a huge wet fart...after looking at me over his shoulder. 

It took me at least an hour to laugh about it.

That Sound Still Haunts Me

PlazaJen's latest post reminded me of something that I accepted/railed against, depending on which day it was, while working at The Sporting Company.  It sure did piss me off back then.

I've mentioned the crazy ass building The Sporting Company used to house their production facilities.  The one tippy-top thing that used to drive me batshit about it was that the A/C and the heat were on, simultaneously, year 'round.

Let me be even more clear:  The building was heated by a combination of forced air and radiant heat.  So TWO heat systems and the A/C were on, all at once.  And my desk was under a vent.  So random blasts of hot/icy air would be farted into my office without any warning but mysterious bumping/crashing sounds that resembled those of a greased Groundskeeper Willie chasing Santa's Little Helper through the ducts.  It was just the fucking capper on my day. 

In an attempt to control the climate chaos, my supervisor and I spent half a day going up a ladder, opening the dropped ceiling and turning the hex keys attached to the ducts, thus closing them in our area.  This caused a hurricane-force blast of A/C in another area of the building, which we didn't know about until a blue-tinged cow-orker turned up on our office doorstep.  The gale was so loud she couldn't even hear her phone ringing.

It was a disgusting waste of resources, time and money.  But I can laugh now.

No wait!  The real capper was that they sold the building to some other poor sucker for around $2 million.

And Another Thing....

Those of you who collect Shoppers Optimum points pay attention.  They are revamping the program as of July 1st.  On that date, your points will be worth less than they are right now.  Check out the Shopper's Drug Mart link I just posted for details.  Having examined the current program, I will say that you will get quite a bit less in redemption dollars.

Fuck.

A "For Rent" sign went up on a house near me today.

We don't have a great record with the three families that have lived in that house in the seven years we've been here.  This last one is a douche who doesn't keep the yard up, but at least he's quiet.

I don't expect better neighbours.  I have a bad track record.  Time after time I've said to myself, Maybe it's I who am the shitty neighbour.  But I kill my dandelions and put out nice flowers and pop misdirected mail into the proper box.  If anyone was willing to put their hand out in any way, I would be happy to keep your spare key and water the containers when you go on vacation.  I will even acknowledge you, which everyone knows is against my nature.  I, your neighbour, have the most interest in a good relationship with you.

But...the last few years have seen my neighbourhood go downhill.  Crime is up.  The sidewalks are a civic embarrassment.  Muslim and First Nations families are moving in...which I don't consider a negative, but plenty of people buying houses won't buy in an area with lots of brown people in them, yes that still happens.  So the house price explosion didn't happen to the extreme it did elsewhere in Edmonton.  That means people, like myself, who couldn't afford much are coming in.  And the ones who bought at the top of the bubble are finding that they can't sell for what they need to get, so they're renting out.  As a rule you can spot the rented houses in Edmonton - they are the ones with the shitty upkeep.  They are a drag on other properties' value.

I'm hoping to get a relatively tame military family, since I live near two bases.  Or perhaps a guy who is away on the rigs a lot.  Or maybe somebody just normal and quiet, how about that?  I don't care what colour they are.

Briefs

• Things are settling in nicely at work, although I am having to get used to not working at a crisis-level breakneck pace; I figure it'll take about a year.

• I bought these Goody Hair Things to try for an up-do decent enough to be seen outside the confines of my yard.

• Don't be scared about the scary scary headlines in your local paper about the deregulation of electricity rates in our province, because most of your bill is fixed delivery rates.

• Hot/cold cycles this spring have made my garden pretty blah by killing the delicate flower buds.

• I am the last person in the world to get an iPod touch...which I managed to finally justify with my bus commute.