I just bought a book of 50 basic cheques (i.e. no puppy dogs or race cars). The cost? $22.63. I find that completely ridiculous for a piece of paper with my bank information on it. When did banks start charging for cheques anyway? I guess I haven’t needed new ones since circa 1998 since I only ever used cheques for rent in University and direct deposit forms.
Archive for September, 2008
Heads up Nova Scotia, Tropical Storm Kyle is coming your way. Kyle finally gained tropical storm strength, with sustained winds of 72kph, as it moved through the Atlantic Ocean east of the Bahamas, on a path that could take it to a landfall in Maine or Canada’s maritime provinces as a minimal Category 1 hurricane.
Some economists are saying that a ban on betting would boost the ailing economy. I have 5-to-1 that says it wouldn’t. Any takers?
My new wallet, the Slimmy, finally arrived last week 21/22 business days after placing the order depending on how one counts the passing of time. That being said I did get feedback from Koyono about my order once I escalated the delays mentioned in the previous post to the founder of the company whom I found on twitter. I don’t want to beat a dead horse on this one, but it was pointed out to me that an Amazon comment from 2006 talks about slow shipping and personal emails from the president about the recent increase in demand for the product. In the end I got my wallet and thus far I am very impressed and happy with the purchase. Below is a review of my new Slimmy minimal wallet.
I’ve been using it for about a week and carry between 3 and 4 cards along with Canadian cash. I can confirm that Canadian currency fits in the wallet, and I’ve had no problem with cards slipping out as I have heard mentioned by others. The stitching looks fine and the leather appears to be of a high quality despite my image of it being a ’soft to the touch’ style. I elected to go with the black lining wallet, while the other wallet in my order purchased was the red lining. Having seen a photo of the black lining in a review I anticipated a lively textured appearance, and thus was a bit disappointed to see that my wallet had a bland cross stitch texture. I do not have photos of the black lining, but I do have a photo of the red which is the same texture as the black.
Overall I am pleased with the wallet and hope it will provide me with years of good service (as I’ve read that people have had problems with the lining of the wallet coming loose). Was it a bit on the pricey side? Yes. Were shipping costs alarmingly large? Yes. Were shipping times alarmingly long? Yes. Would I recommend the Slimmy to friends looking for a low profile ‘fight the bulge’ wallet? Yes. The Slimmy is one of those products that you get upset at because they charge more than you think it’s worth, and it takes forever to arrive in your mailbox, but once you get it you immediately forget about the minor hassles and start to enjoy the life a small thin and fashionable wallet provides.
I’ve been back in Waterloo a bit recently and have developed a few observations. First, I’m always amazed by the number of hot air balloons that fly over the area. I see at least 2 every afternoon. I suppose it is because of the open land that surrounds the tri-city area? And who is flying these balloons? Is there a large hot air ballooning enthusiast population in the area, or are they just for marketing purposes? How the heck can I get a ride in one?
Photo by TechStud
My second observations is the lack of knowledge drivers have with respect to using a roundabout. Waterloo has acquired a fair number of roundabouts in recent years and it seems that drivers have no idea how to properly signal their intentions. On more than one occasion I’ve had cars signal that they are going to take the first immediate right out of the roundabout but then continue straight through with their blinker on, while most people neglect to signal their intentions at all.
And lastly, I think I could go for some more punting on Columbia Lake.
23andme has cut the price for sequencing your genome to $399. That’s a bargain.
There seems to be a pretty simple solution that will eliminate those huge puddles that gather at crosswalks after heavy rains and when the snow begins to melt — instead of lowering the sidewalk to meet the road, raise the road to meet the sidewalk. The lowering sidewalk idea was developed in Berkeley California, where rain and snow aren’t really a big problem. Sadly the cost of fixing intersections could be as high as $500,000 each if drains need to be moved.
I was reading about Jimmy Smitts being on the third season of Dexter which got me to thinking about what other great roles he has played, which led me to think about his stint on West Wing. I’ve seen it mentioned on the Internet but I am continually amazed by the similarities of the final season of the show (broadcast over the calendar year 2005/2006) to the current election season in the US. You’ve got the Alan Alda republican candidate who trends to the middle and rejects a lot of traditional republican views, and then the Jimmy Smits democratic character who comes out of know where to claim the nomination. I had heard that the writers based Smits character on Barack Obama, but to pretty much nail Alda when John McCain was a long shot contender for this 2008 election, even after running in 2000? Pretty amazing. I’ve started watching season 7 over again and it is still as fresh as the day it first aired, and may be even more so given the current political environment. I’m glad the show ended on such a solid season after a few mediocre middle ones.
Rick Mercer tells it how it is, and that the upcoming Canadian election can have just as much — if not more — drama then the current American election. With the eclectic cast of characters, and a promise from Stephen Harper that we have, “nothing to worry about because we’ll probably end up with a minority government and he won’t be able to do all the things we don’t want him too”, how can we go wrong?
I decided to watch the movie The Fall (imdb) tonight pretty much because the characters looked to be involved in some adventure story line and the still images on the films website were rich and saturated with colour. It was an interesting film originally released in 2006 about a stuntman in a LA hospital in 1915 telling an epic tale to a 5 year old girl with a broken arm. The story morphs and changes as the movie progresses, including events and people from the real world. Overall it was an enjoyable film, and it wasn’t until after I watched it that I learnt it was directed by the guy who directed The Cell, and that it was filmed over a 4 year period in 18 locations around the world. I would have to think that all the scenes with the little girl were filmed at the same time, because she does not appear to age.
Update: After writing this post I was reminded of a photo I took that looks eerily similar to the above image from the film. My photo was taken near Nazca in Peru. If only I could have captured the same sky blue colour.
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