Merry Christmas!
I had a busy week trying to tie everything up before I leave. I didn't have to make lunch this week because I managed to line up some lunches with my friends Dale and Mark, as well as attend the December CIPS luncheon, which was interesting. I had a CIPS Regina Executive meeting as well on Wednesday night, so I was even busy after hours.
My trip to Assiniboia on Thursday was pretty scary. The roads were bad and it was a total white-out between here and Moose Jaw on the way there, but I managed. The funeral itself was nice and it was good to catch up with those I managed to see while I was down there, particularly Jason and Nicole. I didn't get to stay long, however, because I wanted to make sure I was back on the road during daylight hours.
Today, I dropped Sofi off at her exam and then finished my Christmas shopping. I picked up Warren (back home for the holidays) and we went to Smitty's for brunch and then did some more shopping. We picked up Sofi after her exam and then we dropped of Warren. I've spent the afternoon doing laundry, cleaning, and packing up. Clayton and Hali decided to come to Regina today to do some shopping so we'll be celebrating Christmas tonight over supper at my parents' house.
After hockey tonight, I'm going to try to get some shuteye before we head to the airport for our flight to Mexico at 7AM. Have a safe rest of 2005 - see you next year!
I am leaving for the funeral tomorrow morning and will be returning tomorrow night.
On Thursday night Jerrod and Brad picked me up and we joined Blair and a co-worker of his at O'Hanlon's for a few pints. It was kind of funny because that was the second time that day I'd been there for a drink, since I had a meeting with a fellow volunteer about updating the CIPS Regina website.
Quote of the night: (courtesy of Jerrod)
"I think I'm turning into a pedophile."
On Friday night we had our team Christmas party at Bonzzini's and it was a blast, as usual. A few of us kept going after everyone had left and made our way over to BP's South for more alcohol-related shenanigans until the wee hours of the morning.
While admission was free on Friday, I still paid a price in terms of severe pain and illness for most of Saturday. I managed to recover in time to head to Holly and Ryan's for their Christmas potluck party and I'm glad we made it because we had a great time. Good food, good friends (except for Brad), and good times. I even made out like a bandit in the Chinese gift exchange, since I'm now the proud owner of a waffle maker. Sofi traded her chocolates to get it for me, and I'll be forever grateful. We also got a fancy candleholder that you hang on the wall. We won't be using it, since it appears to be a severe fire hazard - if you are interested, feel free to come and take it from us.
Sofi and I started the day off right today, getting up early and watching the last couple episodes of Season 3 of 24 while enjoying fine McDonald's breakfast fare. We did some shopping late this afternoon and then went to my parents' house for supper. It will probably turn out be our last visit with them until 2006.
I still have a few presents to buy and wrap before we leave town next weekend. I have two more Christmas parties to attend but I think we're probably going to skip out on both of them to make sure we're not in a mad rush to get everything done before heading to the airport. This time next week I will be in Guadalajara, Mexico enjoying the sights and sounds of David Copperfield. How are you spending your holiday? :)
I was going to write my own post but Chris summed it up so nicely:
Best line:
Mullen added: "You don't win 14 Grammys feeding Africans."
HT: U2log.com
Best Buy sucks.
Here's the long of it - the kids and kid-in-law bought our folks a present for Christmas. It didn't fit in my parents' home so they decided to put it out at the cabin instead. When we got it there, we opened the box and hooked it up and everything was good to go. Shortly thereafter, we noticed that the screen appeared to have a slight warp in it that caused a small amount of yellowing on the screen in certain places. To the untrained eye, it is barely noticeable, and only when there is a lot of white on the screen (like when you're watching hockey, for instance) or you are viewing it from an extreme angle. Obviously, this is a problem - the TV is not operating at 100% and appears to have been broken long before we got our hands on it.
Unfortunately, our cabin is over 4 hours away from the nearest Best Buy store and we don't own a truck, so exchanging it is not an option. On-site warranty repair? Nope - no one associated with the manufacturer will do that for thousands of miles around. The only solution is to drive it to the nearest repair centre, about an hour and a half away from the cabin.
When I first noticed the problem, I had called the store and the lady (Lisa) there said to check with the manufacturer to see if they would do on-site repair. She said that if they couldn't help me, I should call back and see what the store could do. When I called back to let her know that they wouldn't travel to do the repair, I found out exactly what they were prepared to do: nothing. I asked if we could meet halfway; they would cover the gas money or something and I wouldn't gripe about the many hours spent on the phone to the manufacturer and the many hours it will take me to transport the TV to get it fixed. "Sorry," she says, "if you would have bought the extended warranty we could have helped you but I'm afraid there is nothing I can do, unless maybe next time you came to the store I could give you a deal on something?" A vague promise about a deal if I spend even more of our hard-earned money with them? No thanks.
Here's the short of it - Best Buy sells me a broken TV that I unwittingly haul out to the middle of nowhere before opening the box. Their solution: telling me to go fuck myself.
That's not all, folks! The TV came with a surround-sound home stereo/DVD combo that was on backorder when I bought it so I had to wait. "We'll call you when it comes in!" they said. After two months of waiting, I happen to be in the neighbourhood so I stop in to enquire as to when they expected it to arrive (or whether it was in already). "They don't make any more of those, we can't get any more in!" was their response. Fantastic! I waited two months for absolutely nothing. Instead of the model I paid for, they substitute it for another one, which is $40 cheaper and when I get it home I discover that it's a huge piece of shit that I am most definitely going to return. I'm glad they shafted me for months so I didn't haul that thing out to the cabin by mistake as well.
So as a consumer, what's my recourse in this situation? The answer: absolutely nothing. I personally am never going to shop there again, but is that going to affect their bottom-line? Nope! Can I sue a corporation that has enough money to have my whole family tree secretly killed, let alone destroyed in court? Nope! Can I even talk to anyone who isn't 9 levels below even the lowliest executive? Nope!
There are many problems with capitalism, and this is one of them. Anybody who figures out the answer will take one more argument against it away from the hippies. In the meantime, though, we all get screwed.
The CIPS presentation I helped put together a few weeks ago went off without a hitch despite some small technical difficulties. It was perhaps one of the largest luncheons the group has ever held, with approx. 116 people registered. I'm glad, because it was very important to me that as many people got to see and hear this subject material as possible, particularly given it was from one of the foremost experts in Canada. If you are interested, you can see the presentation material here.
Otherwise, if I haven't been at work, I've been pretty much laying low at home over the last week and a half or so. We went out to The Tap after hockey last Saturday night for a dose of beer and bad service, but we weren't out all that long. Unfortunately, Tyler wasn't able to join us because he spent his night at the hospital getting 7 stitches. You see, Tyler and I ran into each other and I was wearing a facemask - he wasn't. Don't get me wrong, though, just because it was an accident doesn't mean I didn't want him hurt somehow, or don't hate him with every fibre of my being ;) On another hockey-related note, yesterday's noon-hour hockey was brutal because we only had 8 guys show up and no goalies :(
Last night we went to Sofi's office X-mas party at the Wascana Country Club and I had a good time. They had fun skits and games that I enjoyed even if I didn't get all the in-jokes. It would be nice if my company could do something similar, but I think in the end we're a little too big for such an intimate affair.
Today I've made progress removing tasks from my "to do" list, but found a break early this morning to watch Johnny English. Glad I didn't pay for this one in the theatre, but it was still a fun way to spend 90 minutes. I was excited to learn today that there is a Mr. Bean 2 in the works - it would be most welcome :)
I have no less than 4 X-mas parties left this season, so that should cover all of my social activities before the holidays. Otherwise, it's a mad dash to get what we need done in the next couple weeks before we leave!