The blog has been pretty quiet lately and I apologize for that but I have been working on the upcoming podcast. I’ve been thinking over the format, the topics and who I will want to get as guests. I have a few good people in mind and one of them will, hopefully, be Dr. Bob (althought I haven’t asked him yet).

I also got some good news about the intro song that I will be using. I submitted a request via the Megadeth website asking if I could use the first twenty four seconds of the song “Truth Be Told” as the intro. This week I got a response from Dave McRobb (webmaster extraordinair) giving me permission to use it. Megadeth has long one of my favorite bands and I am extremely excited to be able to use it.

I’m not exactly sure when the first episode will be out because I still have some things to work out but keep an eye out on the blog for more information.

Cheers!

Political correctness aside, I would like to wish everyone a safe and merry Christmas. I hope you and your family are well and enjoying the season.

This is a great time of year to think of those who are less fortunate. If there is something you can do to make one person’s life just a bit better today, you should do it.

Cheers to all!

One of my pet peeves is when retail shops ask me for my postal code when I buy something. It’s been happening more and more over the past few years and it’s really starting to annoy me.

What actually brought on this post was a recent experience at the local Mark’s Work Wearhouse store. To set you up I’ll explain a bit about my town. This town is located in South Western, Nova Scotia Canada and has less that ten thousand residents. It’s the biggest center in the area so everyone from around comes here to shop, do groceries, see movies, eat at restaurants, and more.

I was in the said store with my Mom while she was shopping for Dad for Christmas. They had some socks on sale, and I was in dire need of some, so I decided to pick them up. I brought them to the checkout and put them on the counter. The lady that was was serving me asked “What is your postal code?” my instant response was simply “No”. She looked at me kind of funny like and then punched something in the register and I proceeded to pay for my socks.

When I was done paying she looked at me again and said “We don’t use it [postal code] for anything.” That struck a nerve (because I know better) and I told her “That’s not true. You use it for marketing so you can send fliers to the areas where more people come from to shop.” She then proceeded to tell me that the only thing that they use it for is to figure out where to build new stores. Again I told her “That’s not true”. Then, the other clerk piped up and said “We’ll your gonna get the fliers anyway.”

So if I’m going to get the fliers anyway why they hell ask for it? Also, there’s never going to be a second store in this town. There just isn’t enough people to support two. It was a bold faced lie. Maybe she didn’t know that she was lying but I’m pretty sure that’s what they are told to tell customers when they do this. I’m also pretty sure that I’m the first person who ever said “No” to the postal code question.

Regardless, of the reasons why, they aren’t going to get my information and they should just be damned happy that I’m spending my money there. Most people just give out their information and don’t think twice about it but not me. I always say no because they just don’t need to be asking. They don’t need to know my postal code, email address or mailing address to buy a pair of socks.

Another company that is bad for requesting personal information is Canadian Tire. If you’ve ever tried to return a product there, they ask for your name, address and phone number. It’s not just enough to give you your money back they must plop you in their system and track you like an out of control teen. On a side note, Canadian Tire is the only store that I know of that still has turnstiles in the entrance and signs that say “You must leave all bags at the customer service counter. Your items are left at your own risk.” So I guess that probably says something about the trust (or lack thereof) they put in their customers.

So to sum things up, there are two things that annoy me in these situations. One is the collection of personal data and the other is the lack of explanation that the clerks are able provide. Their training is teaching them to not tell the full truth as to why they want this information.

That’s why I avoid giving them this information unless absolutely necessary.

I was chatting at work today and I suddenly realized that part of the worlds problems these days stem from a lack of critical thinking. In case you’re not sure what critical thinking is here is part of the Wikipedia definition:

“Critical thinking consists of mental processes of discernment, analysis and evaluation. It includes possible processes of reflecting upon a tangible or intangible item in order to form a solid judgment that reconciles scientific evidence with common sense.”

I’m not posting this definition as an insult I am simply posting it as a refresher. The last time I was told what it was, was probably back in my grade 10 English class.

These days, I get the feeling that people watch more news than in the past but don’t think too much about it. Just because Anderson Cooper says “That’s the way it is” on his CNN show, doesn’t really mean that’s the way it is. You need to take what everyone says in stride then analyze, deconstruct, research and form your own opinion on the matter.

Just knowing what is going on in the world is not enough. If we were all to take everything we are told at face value where would we be now? We would probably still be teaching our children that the Earth is flat and that it’s ok to make African Canadian/American people sit at the back of the bus.

This method of thinking is very important when you are digesting political information and dealing with religion. It bothers me very much that people blindly follow politicians and preachers without at least giving their words a second thought. This is not meant to be a “religion is bad” post but you should at least analyze what is being said before jumping in head first and spreading the word. FYI - Politicians aren’t much different than preachers. They both expect blind faith to attract and retain followers.

So the next time you hear something that strikes you as a little off or a bit odd why not fire up your computer and do some fact checking and research. You would be amazed at what you might find and where that information comes from.

If your charity or non-profit has a CEO or Executive Director, I have probably not, nor ever will, donate any money to you.

Why do I make this statement you ask? Well first off take a look here. That is a link to the United Way Team of Halifax Nova Scotia Canada. There’s all kinds of people there with titles like “President”, “CEO”, “Executive Assistant”, and more.

It’s my opinion that any charity that can afford to permenently staff such positions is wasting my money. These positions are extremely expensive to staff. It’s not just the salaries that are expensive but in most organizations these are the people that waste the most money on travel, lunch and dinners, and most other expenses.

I’m also appaled when a CEO hires an “Executive Assistant” this usually means that they are lazy and don’t want to do the menial tasks themselves. If you can’t do your own work, it’s of my opinion that you aren’t qualified to do the job. There’s enough of these stuck up big wigs in other organizations and I won’t get myself involved in a charity that runs this way.

Take this United Way scenario for example. If you were to give them $100 of your precious, hard earned money how much would actually go to fund charitable work? Would it be 100%? Definitely not. It’s probably closer to the 50% mark because they need to pay these big wigs their fortunes.

I’ve always preferred to support local and small charities. For example, I’ve always helped out the food banks when possible. To me, these are the best charities to help out. First off, you don’t have to donate money, you can donate time and/or goods. Secondly, you know that your can of soup or box of cereal won’t be auctioned off and turned into cash for the executives. It will most likely be used properly and given to those who actually need it. In the town where I currently reside you can go to the local supermarket and purchase a pre-packaged food donation bag for $5, $10 or $15. This is a perfect way to help feed those less fortunate than us without having to give them the free-for-all option that comes with a cash donation.

I’ve also been upset in the past how the United Way goes about it’s fundraising. I am a former employee of the Province of Nova Scotia and there, the United Way would send on of their reps around trying to coax us into donating money on a per-paycheck basis. They wanted us to sign a form and give them access to our bank accounts to withdraw money every two weeks. They were even so pushy as to refuse to take back their forms. I would always tell them that I wasn’t interested but they kept insisting that I should change my mind and that they would leave me their paperwork in case I changed my mind. Needless to say, each and every time it ended up in the garbage and was a waste of a precious tree branch.

The other way I like to contribute to charities and non-profits is by volunteering my services or time. Since I am a computer technician by trade I’ve offered my technical services to some organizations in the past. This is a type of service that they would normally have to pay to receive so why not volunteer. It saves them money but doesn’t require that I donate any of your own to them.

I know this article sounds like a jab at the United Way (and it partially is) there are many other charities that have similar Modus Operandi. One of these “other” charities that comes to mind is the Children’s Christian Fund of Canada. These folks also operate in a similar manner. Just look at the amount of money they spend on TV advertisements and you’ll see where your money goes.

The point of this article is to make you think about your next donation. Why not consider donating something other than cold hard cash to these folks and see how long they are interested in you. If they accept your offer of time or services then they are probably worth supporting. If they do not, however, you should consider supporting some other organization that needs what you have to offer.

My apologies but for most of you this article probably won’t mean anything. It’s quite specific to the primary industry in the area where I currently live. This area happens to be the south west tip of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada.

As we all know, the recent downturn in the stock market and housing market has taken a toll on just about everyone, in every business. In particular, this area has suffered a great loss of income due to the local fishery being adversely affected by these events.

The local fishery I am referring to is the lobster fishery. For some people, lobsters are their one and only income and if they don’t make money during the half year long season they are in for some big trouble. The price for a pound of lobster this year has been in the range of $3 to $3.50 compared to a usual $5 + at this time of the year. Not only is the price bad but the big companies that buy these lobsters aren’t buying in quantity as they once did. For the past two or three years the buyers have been stuck with a stock of lobster that they can’t sell and end up losing money because of it.

It sounds bad right? Well, in my opinion, it could easily be a lot better. It’s well known that lobster fisherman in this area can be cocky, arrogant, and full of themselves. I’m guessing this comes from a period that ended about 3 years ago but had started 6 or 7 years prior where deck hands could make up to $100,000 a year (if you were on the right boat) and the captains were rolling in the dough. It got to a point where, if one wanted to buy a lobster license, boat, and gear it could cost a million to a million and a half dollars. This was all well and good at the time because it seemed like they had to world by the balls and that it would never end. Unfortunately for them, markets can crash just as fast as they can boom. This is what happened to the markets for lobsters.

This downturn in the market can most likely be attributed to the same cause as any market is having right now, the housing crisis. The lobster caught locally is, most often, shipped to the USA where it is sold on the various fish and super markets there. Unfortunately, when people don’t have money, they don’t go out to the high end seafood restaurants or buy the expensive stuff for home. They become much more conservative with their spending. This is bad for folks here at home.

This fisheries here in South West Nova are different than most. There is more money to be made here that most places that support a fishery. It’s one of the few places in the world that a lobster fisherman can fish for a season (end of November to end of May) and do nothing for the rest of the year. Most places would require a fisherman to gear his boat up for another type of  fishing in the off-season to make ends meet. This, at least to me, is one of the big problems here. It creates laziness.

You can say what you want but I was once a fisherman, when the going was really good too, until I realized it wasn’t for me and that there wasn’t going to be that kind of money in it forever. The first year I fished a full season at regular rates I made $35,000. Of course, I wasn’t fishing with one of the big shots but for six months of work it’s a damn good living. Then for the rest of the year I could draw Employment Insurance from the government and gallivant around like I was King Shit of Turd Hill.

It’s not all the fisherman that are afraid to lose their shirt. It’s mostly the ones that are in their mid twenties to early forties that bought their set up during the peak period and thought that life would remain AS-IS forever. These are the people that think “I’m doing fine as long as I can make the payments.”. That’s such a bad way of thinking. I know of some people who think they are going broke but have a cottage, two brand new vehicles (most often a 4×4 extended cab half ton truck and a huge SUV), new all-terrain vehicle (often more than one) and go on lavish vacations that cost in the vicinity of $10,000 to $20,000.

It’s really hard to feel bad for such people. They could easily sell off some of their belongings, say the cottage, to make up for some of the shortfall (although the housing market sucks so this might not work now) . It’s the monthly bills that cause the problem. If they actually owned some of this stuff they wouldn’t be so worried.

I’ve always compared fisherman to farmers. Their professions are similar and they face similar problems with marketing their products. The difference is that farmers have been able to adapt and use local resources, such as farmer’s markets, to sell their goods. It’s time that fisherman do the same, and some have been. The wife and I went for our usual grocery run this week and noticed there was a gentleman who was parked in a parking lot off the main drag in the town selling his lobsters out the back of his truck. This isn’t the most glorious way to make a living but it’s helping create a local demand for his product and he’s cutting out the middle men.

In addition to the above there has also been a movement by some fisherman to try and force the buyers to pay more. They have tried striking and even had a rally this weekend to try and raise support. Unfortunately, they are missing the point. You can’t just demand higher prices without the market being there for the product. The buyers who market the fish can’t simply pay more if they are going to lose money on it. If they don’t make any money no one does.

I guess what I am getting at is that we can’t always rely on the “usual” source of income to make a living. Sometimes we have to take things into our own hands and do what we can to survive. It’s a tough lesson for some around here but I hope, in the end, that they do. I also hope they are a bit more careful, if we ever see another spike in income from this fishery, in the way they spend their money. Maybe putting some away in a savings account for a “rainy day” might not be such a bad idea. That is what we landlubbers must do.

As much as I hate the fact that the automakers are pushing the US Government for over 30 billion dollars, I’m more concerned what the Canadian Government will do.

If the Canadian Government ends up giving the automakers any amount of cash it might help for a brief period but what are the conditions? One of the specific conditions I am curious about is whether or not the money will need to be refunded if one of the companies pulls out of Canada. I sure hope that the Canadian Government is smart enough to put a clause in the contract that requires these companies to keep a presence in the country. If they take the bailout money and then close a bunch of Canadian manufacturing plants and/or other related services what’s the point? How does that benefit Canadians? What if they pull out of the country all together? Does that mean they get to keep the money? I sure hope not!

I think this money would be better spent on retraining and strengthening other markets that are still doing ok. Maybe we could even use some of that money to streamline government services to help everyone.

There have been over 60,000 jobs cut in Ontario alone in the past few months, that’s the most since the great recession of the 80’s. Maybe this money could help those people find new jobs and get a new education.

Please don’t spend the money on executives who fly around in corporate jets. We shouldn’t take pity on people who live a lifestyle that most of us will never have a chance to live.

I was born and raised as a Roman Catholic but when I turned the age of 15 I decided that I no longer wanted to attend my local church. I felt that I was being forced into going but more importantly I felt that I was being told what to believe rather than being taught about the religion.

That is why I no longer go to church or care much hear about the spiritual side of it. I’ve had discussions with many people about their beliefs and have decided that I can no longer have these because most are people who believe in their religion to the point they can’t discuss it without getting mad.

I am very interested in religions, for a strictly educational and historical purpose, but it’s so hard to find people to discuss this with. Too many people believe in their religion without knowing what it’s about and where it started. The words of the Christian Bible cannot be interpreted literally because they were written in a language that was not English and so much of the meaning was lost in the many translations over the years . You must also realize that every language has slang and phrases that cannot be interpreted directly into any other language thus one saying may not have actually meant what it appears to mean.

This is very frustrating for me because people are unwilling to believe this. People think that because a priest (or whatever your religious person is called) says something is one way that it must be that way and it cannot be argued. This is such as horrible way of thinking.

It is OK to believe what you want to believe and to live this way in the privacy of your own home is fine and dandy but please to impose it on others. Just because you believe that Jesus saved us does not mean that everyone does. Don’t forget there are many other religions out there that believe in other things and you are in no position to tell them they are wrong.

It really annoys me when I see a Jehovah’s witness walk up to the door and ring the bell. I want to open the door and scream at them because they are trying to impose their beliefs on me. When I do tell them to leave they try and rebuttal they just make themselves look stupid.

I also don’t agree with anyone saying they have to do things a certain way because of their religion. One example is people who want to wear turbans while on the police force. All of the major police forces have their own uniforms that are religion independent and if you can’t respect that then go find another profession. I have no problem with diversity in any workplace, I even feel it’s a good thing, but people who belong to this diverse group should respect the organization they work for.

Again, I want to make it clear that I am not a racist nor am I against choice of religion I just think that it should be done in the comfort of your home or place of worship. Don’t force it upon other people.

As most of you know, one of the big stories of the 2008 stock market crash is the trouble that the big three automakers have gotten themselves into and what the Canadian and America governments are going to do about it.

In my opinion they should let them sink or swim. I’ve never been a fan of government supported industries that suck up tax dollars just because the government can’t let go. What is the point in subsidizing or supporting a part of an industry that is failing anyway?

The auto industry is far from dead but this day and age people aren’t buying the gas guzzling creations of these automakers anymore. The more environmentally conscious generation of today is looking for efficient vehicles that are easy on gas. We now see the popularity of the Tesla electric cars and the gas-electric hybrids overtaking the once dominant four door luxury cars (i.e. Lincoln Town Car) and the 4×4 extended cab trucks.

I understand that the government wants to help preserve the jobs of these thousands of people but wouldn’t the money be better spent on a retraining package for these people? It seems to me that the money should be placed into a fund that helps former workers of this manufacturing industry find education that will take them into an area where there is more stability.

There are automakers that flourish in this day and age. Take a look and Honda and Toyota, for example. You never hear anything about their problems and, in fact, Honda has recently expanded operations in North America because of the void created by the “BIG 3” being unable to accommodate what their customers are asking for.

I am a big fan of letting the market determine what it wants and what will survive. It’s not the government’s responsibility to make sure that products keep being produced even if there is no demand. The only reason they are interested in helping this particular industry is because the unions are hollering. I’m not sure that the unions should dictate what the government does either.

Maybe some of these soon to be layed-off workers could be easily retrained to work in plants of competing companies such as the previously mentioned Honda and Toyota.

I’m afraid, even if our governments spend tons of money bailing out these companies, they will try to continue business as usual without the necessary changes to become self sufficient. We don’t need these companies mooching of the government for the next 20 years because they aren’t capable of making it on their own. That’s where a free market system is good, it weeds out the weak and rewards the strong.

In case you don’t know, the “BIG 3” are considered to be GM, Ford, and Chrysler. They are the three biggest and most powerful automakers in North American, not to mention they employ hundreds of thousands of people.