The Testing Begins

At the beginning of our trek home, or at least near the beginning on our walk to Union Station, this afternoon, we noticed what looked like an ice cream cart with people handing things out. Thinking it was some kind of ice cream snack being handed out, we made our way towards it but once I realized that it was not some ice cream treat but instead a new kind of flakie, I turned aside and waited while Stinky T took advantage of the free item. During the remainder of the walk to Union, Stinky T looked over the flakie and decided she did not really want it.

We boarded our train and Stinky T, realizing she still had the unwanted flakie in her hand, decided to place it on a vacant seat expecting someone to come by and pick it up. We both sat there watching the people board the train and notice the solitary flakie waiting for someone to take it. This took a humourous turn as a couple ladies sitting in view of the filled pastry snack looked longingly at it like some look at a lover. We thought for sure one of these ladies were going to break down and grab it but their resolve was stronger than we thought and the flakie remained.

About halfway to the end of the line and my stop, Stinky T detrained and the flakie was still where she left it. I thought this was unbelievable and had begun to think the snack was going to take up permanent residency on that seat. By the time the train reached the end of the line, there were only a couple other people in the coach beside me. Just prior to the train stopping, I had decided I should pick the flakie up and put it in the trash but I did not get that chance. The person occupying the seat beside the treat, who had left it untouched for almost an hour, ended up taking it. I don't know if she ended up just throwing it out but from the way she took it, I fully suspect that she did not toss it to the trash.

As I was preparing to get up and grab the flakie and take it to the trash, I noticed a coat on the seat and I knew what was coming. Seconds after my observation, this mystery lady picked up her coat and then bent down and picked something else up. Of course it had to be the flakie but assuming things makes an ass of pretty much everyone (you know what I'm talking about) so I needed visual confirmation. I had to see it to believe it (or not see it in this case). My eyes, unless they deceived me for that split second, rested on nothing but the blue corduroy of the seat. The flakie was finally taken.

It is too early in the testing stage to come to concrete conclusions but I am going to go out on a limb here (did I put enough cliches in this post yet?) and say that even though a flakie is irresistible, the need to not be perceived as cheap is greater. Had that train been empty sooner, the flakie would never had stood a chance. Once again, perception proves to be everything.

We have ideas for further testing, once we get some funding from the government ($500,000 should suffice), we can begin to test some more elaborate cases but until then we may start our monetary test, starting with a twenty-five cent piece (or a quarter if you prefer).

I Went With A Virgin

Today, since I had the day off work, I went to purchase my new phone and as the title suggests I went with Virgin Mobile as my service provider. The sales person was quite helpful as well, unlike the lady who helped me the first time around with Bell. She did not push me towards any monthly plans but instead told me flat out that it is best not to get any plan if I am only using the phone in emergencies. I resisted the urge to highlight Bell's inadequacies here.

My wife wanted to update her phone so I set out to buy one for her too in hopes of striking some sort of multi-phone deal. I was prepared to reduce that to only one phone if there was no deal to be had and I was not treated appropriately. The sales associate made it quite clear that there was no deal to be had but since the rest of our interaction was as honest (and the phones were so cheap) I continued to buy the two. Each phone is the same model, however, one phone is all black while the other phone is white with a touch of black.

I left the kiosk happy with my purchase and excited that I didn't spend the anticiapted $500 for two phones when I spotted a jewelry store (I knew it was there, it was there on the way in too). Ordinarily a thought of buying something that sparkles for my wife would only flash through my mind but since I had a budgeted surplus after the phone purchase and I have been wanting to buy a locket for my wife for a few months now, I finally made the effort to do it. This time that thought took hold and next thing I know I am staring at a display of lockets trying to decide which one my wife would like best. I finally decided on what turned out to be the biggest one (big enough so the picture can be seen without magnification) and, with the budget all but consumed, I left the mall.

Once at home, I wasted no time in opening the phone, powering it up, activating it and playing around with it. Even though it is an object of my hatred, it was still fun to play around with a new toy. It has pained me all day not opening my wife's phone too. So far it has remained tauntingly in it's package beside the computer where I have spent about 75% of my day. The only thing holding back my urge is my stronger hatred of waste. My wife's current phone still has time on it so I want her to use that time up before her new phone is activated. The day is still young yet so anything may happen. So far I am pleased with my decision and I hope my view does not change.

Toronto Icon Dead at 92

Honest Ed Mirvish, the man responsible for saving the Royal Alexandra Theatre from demolition, died early this morning at St. Michael’s Hospital. Despite all that, he is perhaps best known for giving away turkeys at Christmas time at his discount store Honest Ed’s. He was truly a hero of his times and his death will be felt by many.

Edwin Mirvish
July 24, 1914 to July 11, 2007

Beaten into Submission

I absolutely detest telephones, both traditional land lines and cellular phones, and, other than a brief two year period, I have avoided using cell phones. I didn’t want to buy the cell phone when I did either but my situation at the time created a need for one. At that time I was separated from my wife, although we were not married at the time, and the cell phone made things easier, even though I rarely used it. When my wife finally moved to the area, I kept the phone active but I barely used it. Only about a year or so ago, I let my phone become inactive.

Now that I have a child in day care and I rely on public transit to get to and from work, the need for a cell phone is growing. Despite some train cancellations and delays in my first two weeks back to work, I refused to buy a new cell phone. Yesterday, after my baby’s temperature reached 103F (39.9C for us Canadians) and the day care was frantically trying to get him out of the centre, my wall of refusal has cracked. I was out of the office and did not get the message left by the day care so I was unaware of the situation when I picked my son up. This all occurred too late for us to pick him up any earlier than usual anyhow but it is a little disconcerting not knowing what is going on with my son.

On top of that issue, my wife and I do not see each other every day most weeks so it is hard to co-ordinate things and communicate any issues or share joyful events. She mentioned to me that I should have my phone activated or get a new one and at that time, I shot down the suggestion. Now, it is time for me to reconsider. ‘In the immortal words of the doors: The time to hesitate is through!’ (quote from Empire Records). Starting today I must commence my search for the best phone company and decide on the plan or prepaid service to use.

By the way, my wife took my son to a clinic last night and had his eyes, ears, nose, and throat checked out. Nothing seems awry in any of those. The doctor’s diagnosis is a common cold. My son is going to see one of our doctors today to confirm the first opinion (our doctor works in a clinic with three other doctors so it is a crap shoot as to which doctor we get to see).

We Waited for What?

On Friday, my son had his appointment at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto regarding his hands and feet. Since the appointment took a year to schedule, I figured we would be waiting most of the day before we were actually seen by a doctor so I was forced to use half a days vacation for the appointment. Much to my surprise, we only had to wait 45 minutes in the waiting room and another ten to fifteen minutes in another room before the doctor and his shadow (a University of Toronto student) arrived. As I predicted, it took only fifteen minutes for the doctor to look over my son and come to his surprising decision. Nothing was to be done to my son's feet. For his hands, we need to see a plastic surgeon.