What I Learned Today

Another eight hour shift at the clothing store today.  I learned a whole bunch more stuff.  Here are the highlights.

I learned how to dress manikins today.  They were only torsos, but it was still interesting.  I had to follow the guide the company put out as best  I could, even though we didn't have most of the clothes that were supposed to go on them.  Manikins are heavy.  Well, actually the metal bases are really heavy and they want to fall off the bottom while you are carrying the manikin down a very tall ladder.

Old men are strange.  I helped an old dude today find some briefs.  That should have been easy, but the ones I gave him had grey and black briefs in the package.  The geezer shook his head and put them back, informing me that he could only wear grey undies.  I spent 10 minutes rifling through our stock of gitchers to find a package of grey ones so they odd duck would have the correct colour.  I wonder if he was planning on wearing them on the outside?  Oh, I nearly forgot that the reason he was getting new undies, was that his wife is in Ontario visiting their daughter and with their recent move he couldn't find more underwear in the house, so he decided to come buy some to get him through.

Finally, I learned that responsibility sucks.  When I was hired, the manager let me know that she had given me a position where I would be a keyholder and be able to close and open the shop.  Apparently, it would make my shifts longer.  Well,  I guess she forgot to tell me that with a key (which I haven't even caught a glimpse of yet), comes a 27 step process for closing.  There are so many steps to cashing out the register and writing down the amount of money in at least three different places, that I just want to stick all of the money in a shopping bag and stuff it in the safe for the next person to deal with.  I don't think the manager got the memo that I really don't need this job and that the whole point was that I can have an easy and carefree way to earn some extra cash.  Responsibility is not what I do during the summer.

A Must See

You should spend the few minutes it takes to view these three very slick, very interesting 1 minute videos: Move, Learn and Eat.

Stopping and Smelling the Roses

I went for a bike ride the other day and decided to take the camera with me.  I am normally a person that exercises with a purpose.  I want to ride a certain distance, run a certain amount of time, etc.  This time I decided to look at my surroundings while I rode instead of just the path in front of me for obstacles.  I hopped off my bike several times just to take some pics that I thought might look good.  I still got a decent workout, and I enjoyed my time out quite a bit.  I think I might have to bring the camera on my rides every once in a while from now on.

House Man No Longer

I started my summer job this past week.  I am now an employee of Mark's Work Wearhouse, purveyor of women's and men's fine clothing.  When I first applied for the job, I was told that it would be two or three shifts per week and around 15 hours.  This past week I worked 18 hours, but I was training.  Next week I'll be working 28 hours with a few hours of elearning to squeeze in as well.  I'm not complaining.  I just wonder if I'll get as much done around the house in the second month of summer as I did in the first.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Jen and I decided to work so that we could have some money for ourselves without raiding the household account.  With things always going wrong with the house and a possible work stoppage this year, we want to have a nest egg to fall back on should the need arise.  I found that if I waited to be able to afford all of the things I wanted, those things would be obsolete by the time I could.  Action had to be taken.  My first two purchasing priorities are a flat screen TV and an upgrade to Windows 7 for my PC.
The TV is a big ticket item, so will probably take some time to accomplish.  I'm just want to come out of the cave and join the rest of modern society.

A big bonus of the new job is the 40% discount I get on clothes.  I will be needing new clothes for work this winter, and you can't beat getting them for almost half price.  Jen also gets a discount of 20% on anything she buys.  That's a pretty sweet deal.

I'll keep everyone updated on how the new job is going as the weeks progress.

Early Adopters

I have never been an early adopter of anything.  Those that know me, understand that I take a cautious approach to change.  I need to see how it will work out and how it will fit into my life and world view.  I change slowly.  Unfortunately, technology does not give us the opportunity to go as slowly as some of us old codgers would like.

For example, up until a year ago, I had no use for either Twitter or blogging.  I thought Twitter was a place where a bunch of self important people tweeted about where they were having lunch or how large their bowel movements were.  I thought that blogging was for self-indulgent people told the world about the minutia of their lives and figured the world deserved to know.  Luckily, some people showed me how both of these tools could be used with a purpose.  I stated using Twitter for professional development and now also use it to connect and meet new people in my hobby as well.  I started a personal blog in order to understand it so I could use it for my classroom and students.  Now I keep this blog (as you know), a classroom blog and a nerd blog.  I was clearly wrong about blogging and Twitter.

Now I'm trying to figure out Google+.  I am trying to adopt early!  This is a change for me.  It is also one of the few ways I can adopt early.  I have found that generally adopting technology early is expensive.  I would love to have a tablet, but don't have the money.  I find it hard to be as active as I would like on Twitter because I don't have a fancy phone.  I am still one of the 15% of North Americans that don't have a flat panel television.  Unless you have a job where you make more money than a teacher or your employer provides you with new technology as part of your job, you can't keep up.  My only option is to wait until the technology becomes cheaper or I can save up enough money to buy said new technology (and usually it's not new by then).

So, now that my mindset has changed somewhat on being more open minded towards new technology (and other things I hope), I only need my paycheque to change its mind about being bigger.

OK.  I just thought this was funny.

The Kobo: Five Months Later

I realized the other day that I have had my Kobo for five months now.  Initially I was happy with my purchase, and I just  thought I'd pass on my thoughts on ereading several months later.

First, the price of the Kobo went down by $20 a month after I bought mine.  That was a bummer.  Then a month ago, the touch version of the Kobo came out. Another bummer.  However, one thing you learn with technology is that there is always something newer and better just around the corner.  If you always wait for that newer or better thing, you'll never have anything.

Second, Jen has recommended some books to me since I've had the Kobo and have read them.  They were both very large books, which brought into sharp relief how much I enjoy my little Kobo.  I am currently reading A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin and it is quite a large book.  But I can lie in bed and read it with one hand.  I can be sitting or laying in almost any position on the couch and still read my book comfortably.  I never have to worry about losing my page.  If I am going to be waiting for something or someone, I can stick my Kobo in my pocket (well most pockets) and take it along with me.

Third, I have several books waiting to be read and they are all in one place.  I haven't added a book to our overcrowded book shelf since I got the Kobo.

Fourth is a little bit of a downside.  Many of the books I read have maps at the beginning of the book.  During the story many place names are mentioned and it's helpful to flip back and check out where that place is exactly or how far the character has traveled.  On an ereader, that is not feasible.  It takes quite some time to get to the place you want to go, so you just have to study the map in the beginning and remember as best you can.  If you are reading a popular book, there are sometimes copies of the map(s) online to look at.

Fifth, if you have just a short time to read, you can just flip open a book.  The Kobo needs to be fired up, unless you knew you were coming back shortly and just put it to sleep.  Powering up the Kobo and then loading the book you want to read probably only takes 2 minutes, but that seems like a long time when you just want something to do while you wife touches up her makeup before you leave the house.

Overall, I am extremely pleased with my Kobo.  It is inexpensive, small and handy.  I am sure there are better ereaders out there, but this one is at the right price point for me.  I would definitely recommend getting one if you have been toying with the idea.

A Dark and Hungry God

I thought I was going to get away with merely laying time and a small amount of money on the alter of the Dark and Hungry God (my house) this summer.  Alas, I was playing the fool.  This morning the appliance repair man came to look at our oven.  It appeared that our oven's thermostat was shot, so we were hoping that he would be able to replace it.  After looking at it and calling the parts people he broke the news that there were no parts in Canada at the moment and it would be three weeks before he could get one.  I thought that wasn't so bad, as we barbeque most of the time in the summer.  Then he announced that it would cost $200 for the part and another $45 for him to come back and install it.  This on top of the $95 he was charging us to look at the damned thing today! 

Now we are left with making the decision to drop over $300 on a 10 year old appliance or buy a new one and not have to worry about it.  We are leaning towards a new range.  I could almost see the flat screen TV I was planning on buying this year go up in smoke.  I guess I've waited this long, another year of television envy won't kill me.  Mame me maybe, but not kill.

By the way, if a friend ever tells you how great it is having a house and you should buy one to, you should punch them in the face.  I mean really hard.  That person is not your friend.  That person wants someone else to get the shaft too and then you can commiserate.  Just saying.