washrooms

Imagine this. There is a event in Calgary that attracts milions of people over a periode of a week and still they are able to keep the washrooms clean. Nothing amazing you would think but i disagree with that because the washrooms at the Calgary Stampede are not only clean but they are multiple times cleaner then the average restaurant in town and an avarage restaurant doesn't even get so many customers over there whole existents!

Ice Cream mix it

It was one of those nice days that you long for an ice cream and i like the Mc Flurry from MC Donalds but this time i could not choose between the Rolo or the Kit Kat so i asked if i could get it mixed and WOW that was the best one i ever had.

So next time try to mix yours it will be worth it.

Return

Why are stores so easy when it is about returns?

Yesterday was a return day for me. I went to see multiple stores to return some items that i didn't want because they where not what I expected or wanted any more.

In most cases the store people didn't even ask for a reason and just took the item back.

Some of them didn't give cash back because I was to late with the return and this was because the item was faulty and not because i didn't want it so that made me a bit disapointed but a well at least it is worth it's value.

last moment

I do some work for one of the mayor greeting card companies and last Friday and Saturday I had some work making sure enough Mothers day cards where available.

It is so surprising to see how many people wait till the last moment to get a card.

Also funny is to see how different people are some people take like less then a minute to find a card but there are some of them that need more then 30 minutes and they basically check every card available.

What kind of card buyer are you??

YES i fixed it

Ok after the last post your probably figured it out that my F key was not responding as it supose to be doing.

But after a little bit of research i found the problem and fixed it to. A small piece of something i think bread was stuck between the key and the presure point so that's why i had no luck typing the letter f but now he is back.

And what did i learn from all this? Don't eat above you keyboard.

what the uck

When you read this post you will wonder why is there one letter missing.

Well let you tell you the key o my mac seem to be on a holiday and that means that every word that contains the will miss it. So sorry about those missing but lucky or you all there where just a ew words that contain the letter.

Lets see i I can still ix it mysel or i I need to bring it in to get it repaired.

Lives Secrets

Don't you wonder sometimes what we suppose to do here in our lifetime?

I notice that most people think it is all about collecting treasures like fancy home, car, lots of holidays and most off all fitting in and being like everybody else.

But is it really all about that? I really don't think it is.

I believe that our live is all about being at easy and being in touch with a higher being. And when you reach that live shows it selves to you and that doesn't mean that it will be easy and really it will not but at least it will give you inner peace and that is what it is all about.

My advice for all of us is to start being the person WE want to be and not what others want us to be. And that could mean that you will not go on you next summer holiday because everyone else does. But it can also mean that you choose to hang out with other people that are more the people YOU want to hang out with.

Live isn't easy but being something you are not does not make it better!

To Wii or not to Wii

I am one of those lucky people that got my Nitendo Wii on release day. OK it was luck I was nr 50 in line and they had 53.

These days almost 1.5 year after introduction they are still a rare find. Most stores here in Calgary don't have them but once in a while you see one surfacing but they never have them for long.

Today I saw one in the local HMV store here in the North west. I wonder how long it take them to sell that one.

I guess if you want one keep your eyes open because it is not likely that you will find one.

Facts

Why do people assume things that are not based on facts?

Is it just because people automacticly think the worst or is it just because most times it is true?

Why don't people just ask what is really going on instead of making up things in there heads even do it most times will be completely of.

I guess i am in the lucky circumstance that the friends around me right now don't assume things without it being backed up by facts but i guess most of us are not that lucky and it doesn't help if stories start traveling around that are made up and not based on the facts.

People just try to be honest to yourself and then maybe eventually you will be thinking about the things you assume before you start believing it as true!

Day and Night

Deerfoot is probably the most busy road in Calgary but that is by day.

In the day time you keep on driving along lots and lots and lots of other cars.

But at night that is different. Last night around 1.30 I was going north on Deerfoot and no cars at all and that also meant that others where using it as playground. Lots of rabbits where enjoying the pavement and where kinda disappointed that a car chased them away.

Isn't it funny how this world turns and makes use of it at any time in the day.

Snow and now Snow

You probably know by now but i like snow and so on Saturday when i woke up i was positively surprised to see some nice new snow. And so at 8 i started a walk to my appointment and it was so nice to put my footprint in the fresh dump of snow.

And then around 1 i walked back and the snow was gone. why did this wonderful white stuff need to disappear so quick?

A well i guess summer is coming and i need to live with it that snow is not usual this time of year. But i still can get lucky a couple more times.

Ikea shopping

Like many of us going to Ikea is nice once in a while, you always seem to run in to things you don't need but that are so handy to have.

But yesterday I wanted to get a bed so you go through the whole thing from choosing the one you like and that fits your budget and then you start writing down all the parts you need. And then finally you go downstairs to get a cart and start getting the products that you need.

And that is where it go's wrong in lots of cases.

In my case the bin where the Bed should have bin was empty and a check with a Ikea employee made it clear they are not in stock but are on the way and should be there in a couple of days.

So now i have my list of what i want and then it is not there and that is frustrating. Why can't Ikea put a note on the product that says not in stock come back next week then you don't have to go through the whole hassle!

Apprentice

OK you got me I watched TV.
I always liked the apprentice series and yesterday was the final episode of the celebrity apprentice and I had seen a couple of episodes before Lent so i wondered who made it to the end.

I was positively surprised that Trace Adkins was one of the two finalist. He was and is Mister nice and if any of the candidates deserved to win it was him.
But unfortunately Donald Trump decided different and let Piers Morgan win and in my eyes he was the biggest bastard of them all yes even worse that Omarosa.

What did you think of this finals??

Nothing on TV AGAIN

OK if you followed my lent post you know that i was not watching TV for a long while and now i am back watching TV and guess what since i started watching TV again on Sunday there was really nothing on TV worth watching. And the TV guide for today doesn't show anything worthy either.

I guess it will be going to bed early with my book again. And that is good to because i really enjoy "the time travelers wife" it is a very interesting book. Much better then the stuff on TV!

Lent the end

We made it, it is Easter so my lent is over for 2008. And did i really mis tv? maybe i did sometimes but in general i have to say this not watching tv thing was easier then i thought.
But then tonight i though oooh i can watch tv again so lets see and guess what nothing on tv worth wasting my time on.

Maybe my lent keeps going for a while because if tv is so not worth watching then why should i wast more of my time on it.

control

Some people realy like to control and by doing so they make a fool of themselfs.

Like my new landlord i would do somethings on surtain days but he didn't really pay attention when we made those plans so now he calls me for this and that while we made clear arrangements for them and so everytime i end up telling them about them.

Would have bin so much easier if he would have written it down.

Traffic flow

The last couple of days you could find me on the deerfoot in the morning and most of the people in Calgary seem to agree that this is an way to busy road.
But after traveling it for 4 days in a row at the same time i have to say rushour traffic at the deerfoot is not nearly as bad as i imagined. Being used to Morning traffic in Holland I have to say why are people complaining about this?

if it still moves then it is not a problem i think. It is funny to see that traffic amounts vary from day to day but still no worry about getting to work on time if you keep that in mind.

Apartment Hunting

Yep i am looking for an apartment and of course it should not be to expensive.

Then yesterday i thought i found something. The pictures looked so nice and the price was right to.

So i went to see it and quickly i noticed that they really knew how to use there digital camera.
The bathroom had all new stuff and nice tiles around the bathtub but why did they have to leave holes in the walls? and why didn't they show on the pictures?

Also the living room walls where like covered with small holes and the heating was connected with duck tape.

After this to me it became clear that don't go by the pictures to much. A well for now i am still looking for a nice place to live here in Calgary.

Calgary Health Care?

People know that health care in Canada is cheap for it's people BUT it has disadvantages.

Unfortunately we needed to spend time in the ER from the Foothills hospital here in Calgary.

We got there at 7 p.m. and we left at 11.30 a.m. and it took them till 7 to even make an effort to do something and that took them still till 10 a.m. before it happened. But i am not complaining about that what made me want to complain is something else.

Imagine you are sick and you need help and you go to the ER then you expect help. In the hours and hours i spend at the ER i noticed that a lot (guess 40 - 50%) of the people that come in at night end up going home without being seen by a doctor.
There was even a guy that came by ambulance but after 4 hours decided to go home and guess what he came back again by ambulance the next morning.

Or people that are just waiting to get admitted. So you are in lots and lots of pain but there is no bed for you. The average wait yesterday was 68 hours. So you are sitting there in pain waiting for 68 hours to get a bed. Is that gone help your health?

I know that the health care system in Calgary is under way to much pressure but i guess there are ways to make it better without needing more doctors and get me right i don't mean we need more doctors but the system that is in place now is not very efficient.

Confused about time

So yesterday i went to get my wife from the airport and then there always those big signs that say what time the plane will land also here in Calgary.

The downside was that all the other clocks hanging in the arrivals hall D all had different times so that makes you wonder what time it is and even if you missed the flight that would land.

I guess clocks at an airport should be showing the right time because this way it lets people freak out.

Lent

Lent is going this time of year and this year a friend and I decided that it would be a nice way to get some stuff done or not done.

We started a bit late because we didn't really know when it started (yes we could have looked it up ) but we started and that is what counts isn't it.

So what am i doing. Let me tell you i like to watch TV and most times i have to come to the conclusion that it was a wast of time to do so and that i why till Easter i will not watch TV. I am allowed to watch a DVD or something like that once in a while but i will try to keep that to a minimum to just to see how far i can get with this.

Till now i can say no problems but keep checking this blog i will keep you informed.

Eclipse

Did you see it last night?

I mean did you see the moon disappear? It was kinda cool. I was expecting it to go really quick but it took a long while. A nice experience and now it is waiting for December 2010 when the next time is that this happens.

Driving Distractions

We all seen them those people on the road that are to busy doing other things then focusing on driving.

Like doing there hair or sending sms messages. Maybe just being on the phone or eating a burger.

This month here the police is doing some more checks on people that make traffic vialations because of it. And guess what they found a guy doing yesterday.......

Someone was playing the gitar while driving. Hmmm i guess that go's a bit to far if you ask me.
I know that people read books and newspapers to and for me that is also way to much.

A well maybe one day when we all have a car like Kit from Knight Rider then we can just do what ever we want to do behind the wheel.

Gaming?

OK I know by now that the Nintendo Wii is difficult to get but what did I see this week at Wal Mart here in Calgary.

No Nintendo Wii's but lots and lots and lots of Nintendo Gamecubes. What are they thinking? their stock of Gamecube game is getting less and less but their stock of Gamecubes is going up and up. So why would I want to buy a Gamecube? to me it just doesn't make any sense.

I guess the Gamecube is cheaper but it is also kinda out of grace by developers and so not much new will come. And then if you really want to play Gamecube games why not play them on a Wii (if you can get one).

Be who you are!

Why is it so important to people to fit in?
Does it really matter that you have the same new car as you friends?
Or do you really have to enjoy sports on TV because every guy does?

I for sure don't enjoy sports and try to stay away from what i need to do to fit in. But i guess it is difficult and it is probably easier to do as everybody else does but does it make sense?

Wouldn't the world be a better place if we where just the way we wanted to be?

Plastic Baby Bottles

Remember all the stories i wrote about how bad plastic bottles are?

Now there is another report but now about that if you heath one of the bad plastic bottles then the bad chemicals get out even more.

Check out this story at The Mess We Made

reading is difficult

I know I am bit dislecsic but a well these days with spelling checkers I seem to manage fairly well.

But reading is a different thing. I read different things then others do in the same story. A simple example I was reading Jpod and there they talk about a game they are creating and it's called spritequest but i didn't read that i read Spiritquest and that means something completely different doesn't it.

Do any of you that come by here sometimes do the same thing?

Water

You know a while ago I had a couple of posts about plastic bottles and how bad they realy are for us people.

But that also makes you wonder how save our water really is. You know that there is a lot of stuff hanging around in our drinking water. All the stuff we bring in to nature will eventually end up in our water. Even medicine we take and pee out will eventually end up again in someones drinking water.

Now lots and lots of people start getting water filters like Britta or even a complete whole house system. But let me tell you this they don't remove everything.

It makes me wonder if waters that supermarkets sell are so much better. For me it hard to believe that everything we but in the water can get out. A well i guess we have to live with the mess we made.

Cold Spell

OK it is cold in Calgary but that doesn't mean you can't have fun.

But till now this is what i noticed of the cold that normally doesn't happened that often.
First I took our car for a little drive and of course the tire pressure monitor said that the tires where to low in air. Then i noticed that the Radio would go on but no sound was to hear anywhere, but after a while when the car got warmer it started to make noise again.

Then even after a 30 minute drive the engine temperature was still low and that even after the car was plugged in all night and most of the day.

Then when I got gas for the car i noticed that the credit card machine outside didn't work so i asked the clerk when i went to pay and he said yep it works but the screen can't stand the cold.

And then of course there are a lot of cars out there that won't start and on the news they say that it takes more then 10 hours to get a mechanic to come, they are just to busy.

A well today is already a bit warmer and tomorrow will be almost summer again with -11.

Home Security

Everybody makes mistakes but did you ever do something as dumb as I did? OK maybe I should tell my story first :)

So Saturday night when we came home i opened the door and locked it on the inside. Then when we where planning to leave for some shopping on Sunday I could not find my keys any where.
After a search i had a bright idea and yes i found my keys still sitting on the outside in the lock.

A shame that no thief was smart enough to see it because it didn't only have our home keys but also the keys of our Jeep that was standing in the driveway.

Lululemon Warehouse Sale

This year we here in Calgary got lucky and got the Lululemon Warehouse sale. On Thursday when this all started the lines outside where 3 hours long so i guess lots of people where looking for a great deal.

On Saturday we went to now there where no lines and that is more my style. I have to say that i wasnt positively surprised. Price in my eyes where not that great and in most cases i would not have bought a product if the price difference is so small.

I ended up buying two tech shirts but mainly because the others thought i should and some great leg warmers but they where really on sale.

Next time when Lululemon has a warehouse sale again you would not see me there. If i really want something from Lululemon i would just go to the store.

Snow

Hmmm snow again. I have to say snow looks great and i don't complain easyly about it.

But why did the weather person forgot to tell us that we would get a fresh coat of snow?
I guess being a weather person still has a lot of guess work in it.

A well the snow is back and here to stay for at least a couple more days so i would say enjoy it.

3rd party Wii Games

You know from the day that it hit the market I really wanted MySims but i decided to wait a bit because I was way to busy with other stuff.

But now the time was there and then you notice how difficult it is to get it. It took me more then more then 6 stores to finally find a copy.

And then you wonder why companies complain that the software sell so bad. Maybe they should try to make sure that stores keep stock of more different games and not only the once that just hit the market or the once that nobody really wants.

And by the way MySims is a great game it is lots and lots of fun.

How often do you check your lights?

Saturday the roads around here where terrible because of the cold and the snow. Lots of cars ended up in the ditch or on top of each other.

It was like driving on a sheet of ice.

But still you notice things that don't really help. So was there a car of witch the back lights didn't work at all and in the dark on the highway that means asking for problems.
After I noticed that car i started to look at more cars and noticed that there are lots of them out there of witch at least one of the lights is not working. And that made me wonder how often do i check my lights????
And do you think that they check my lights with every maintenance of the car?

No Shoppers

It's funny but if I just think back of last month then i remember the over crowded malls where people where just hunting for gifts for the holidays.

But then Yesterday i was in the mall and it was dead there where almost no shoppers here in Market mall in Calgary. Funny maybe this year i should move christmas to January 2009 so that i don't have to get through the crowds.

Rescue

A wounded Deer is stuck on a piece of Ice in the river here.

Pretty sad to begin with but not they are not rescuing it either. They say it's to dangerous and the animal would die anyways.

They shoot it with rubber bullets to make it move. I wonder if they would treat me the same if i was stuck on that piece of ice. Because in my mind the Deer has the same rights as i have so i guess i would also die there.

Trash

Living in a home with a back alley i am always so surprised to see all the trash piling up. Even our back part of the alley seem to get a lot of trash that is definitely not ours.

Things like empty cigarette boxes or the box of a tube of toothpaste (we recycle that) are just lying there or even bigger things like a tray for 24 bottles of water. I wonder why someone decides to leave it behind in our part of the alley way?

Wouldn't it be easier just to clean it up yourself and that way making Calgary a bit cleaner?

Why do ducks have so much fun?

Yesterday when walking through the park down town there where lots and lots and lots of ducks enjoying a swim in a piece of water that was frozen. And even the Cyote that try to catch them didn't seem to bother them to much.

They where all so happy and laughing all the time.

If you listen closly it alsmost seem that they are falling over from all the lauging they do. Make you wonder what they are lauging about. Is it about the crazy people walking around?????

Different worlds

Yesterday I went for a visit to the Zoo and as always there are lots of animals to look at and that is nice.

But now it's winter and you notice more that there are more animals around that don't supposed to live there. There are for instance lots of squirrels jumping around and even showing up in different animal cages. Searching for some monkeys in a cage only showed us 4 or 5 squirrels jumping around.

We also ran in to a little wezel climbing around and lots and lots of mice all over the zoo most times eating the "normal" animals food.

Pouffe

You know those Pouffe sponges people use in the shower?

I wonder why they always seem to completely unravel in to a long string.
Isn't it possible for the manufacture of those sponges to just put a wire or something through the center to keep everything together?

Apple

Weird things come up in my head sometimes when I sleep so last night I wondered about and apple. We all know that fruits and vegetables get way to much herbicides and pesticides and all kind of other bad things.

I was always used to was my fruits before i ate them but now here in Canada all the apples have that nice shiny look i believe they are rubbed with oil or something. But that also makes it even more difficult to wash some of the bad things of the outside of the apple.

I guess the only real solution now is to peal it before you eat it.

Wasting Advertising Money

Last night I was watching TV again and yes I know that there are much better things to do then watching TV but that is a different subject.

So Yesterday was January 8 and that makes me wonder why companies still want to make advertisement for the "holidays" or even worse making advertising for a extra % discount you get this year (meaning 2007) because of GST going down in 2008. IT is 2008 so i already GET the discount everywhere no big deal.

I guess it makes some things clear at least now we found another reason why some companies (lets not say names) loose so much money.

So maybe a nice resolution for 2009 make sure you stop you 2008 advertisements on time.