Customer disservice

I had an experience which I am certain many others have had before me. I had a watch battery replaced on Sat. in a waterproof sports watch. Unfortunately, the young woman who replaced the battery did not place the rubber seal properly and when I went swimming the next day, within a minute the screen flickered and went dead. When I removed the watch to inspect it, I could see a bit of the rubber seal sticking out from under the back case of the watch where water had seeped into the watch and shorted it. The young woman had botched something as simple as replacing a battery. Here's where the hatred rises to the surface:

I returned on Monday to the store to show the saleswoman the crippled watch caused by her improper closing. I expected her or her manager to apologize and replace the battery or offer a replacement watch (or at least a discount on a replacement) as her incompetence had caused the watch to short circuit when exposed to water. No such luck. They refused. Not only did they refuse, the manager had the nerve to suggest that I had tampered with the watch and they were not responsible for it no longer functioning. I was furious and become increasingly incensed when I realized they had no intention of admitting their mistake or making any sort of amends whatsoever. They even shooed me away saying they were closing and had to lock their doors before mall security arrived. I couldn't believe it. I was so angry for the next half hour and then incredibly disappointed at being let down again by salespeople who, in this case, were happy to sell items but completely unskilled at offering technical service and having no concept of customer service. I know a number of people who have had their watches damaged by jewelers attempting to replace batteries - why can't they get this simple task right? Could you imagine a bike mechanic causing damage while replacing a flat or an auto glass repair centre cracking a replacement window and suggesting it's your fault? Obviously, a number of jewellers are there to make high margins selling you bling and don't think we're worth their time to provide quality technical service or post-sales customer service. As for my case, it's not worth my time to fight for my watch as I know they won't change. Weasels 1 - Customer 0.

Try Tri Again

A number of years ago, I did a couple of sprint triathlons for fun with friends, both individually and as a team. Now, some ten years plus later, I'm training to do another one in a few weeks. While I don't have high expectations, I have personal goals I hope to meet or beat, particularly in swimming.

I've always found that despite being in decent running and biking shape, swimming would leave me wiped out. I thought at first that maybe it was I'm fairly lanky, but that doesn't fly as top swimmers are also fairly streamlined. That meant I was probably in need of corrections to my technique. This is where the fun started. As I began to research swimming technique, I came across a number of articles and training clips breaking down the strokes of elite swimmers and what they did to make themselves more efficient. Here are a few that were helpful:

- Swim Taller
- Swimming in Circles:
- Of Gravity and Air:
- Total Immersion site clips. Chose your bandwidth, then choose appropriate clip samples to view, such as Use Your Head to Swim Better, Freestyle Made Easy, and The Secrets of Freestyle

The combination of the total immersion notion of maintaining a horizontal body position by keeping your head aligned with your spine by looking down and front quadrant swimming have made a big difference in the effort required to swim. While I don't think that there's enough time to noticeable speed improvements by my triathlon date, these techniques are definitely helping me swim more efficiently which will leave more energy for biking and running. If you swim and haven't heard of any of these ideas before, check them out as there will likely be at least one thing new for you to try. For more seasoned triathletes, there may be some tips you find helpful in the ACTIVEdotCOM series of videos, such as this one.

Some great things about this upcoming race are that it's short enough to make training reasonable and it's been a great incentive for me to get into good shape.

Intelligent Business

Having recently completed contract work for a company, I'm currently filling the position of Head of Business Development for Me Inc. After years of working in roles which require various degrees of technical or analytical ability, the field which sounds the most interesting to me given my work history is Business Intelligence. I've seen it defined as "the art of sifting through large amounts of data, extracting pertinent information, and turning that information into knowledge from which actions can be taken", though that Wikipedia entry has now been modified. Just the same, the idea of helping people sift through data to extract the information from which they can make meaningful decisions appeals to me. If anyone has a suggestion, link, or contact for a smiliar position, please let me know.

53 Americans of Iranian Descent in Under 2:00

Beijing: Environmental Focus of Olympic Proportions

(source: newsimg.bbc.co.uk)

It was most certainly not the intent of the organizers of the upcoming Olympics to have the world focus on environmental issues, but that's what seems to be happening. By now, most of us have seen, read, and heard commentary from climatologists, meteorologists, and other scientists who have described the pollution situation in China near the Olympic sites. The government is frantically trying to perform a clean up, but in doing so, has captured the world's attention in how it proceeds in trying to resolve large-scale issues with water and air quality. Hopefully, some good will come of this attention and intentions:
First, the world is becoming more aware of how China operates. We are certainly no environmental angels in North America, but perhaps our business leaders will be forced to take notice. As savvy and conscientious consumers, we need to pressure them with our wallets and choices into considering the ecological impact of their decisions when considering options such as outsourcing. The term filthy rich may take on a whole new connotation in today's economic climate if companies continue to operate based solely on shareholder's equity and increasing the bottom line.

Second, now that China has drawn attention to its ability to mobilize, it will be difficult for it go backwards. It, too, will be (and should be) forced to continue to consider the environmental impact of its economic growth. It will no longer be able to sweep its soot under the rug as its own citizens, as well as the eyes of the world, have seen that it can be forced to change. What it needs now is to ensure sustainability as it grows in order to promote long term economic benefits and a healthy environment for that growth.

Lastly, when the IOC considers host cities for the next games, there needs to be consideration of the impact of the games by consultation with the scientific community. Why? Because host cities bend the truth to be chosen. In China's case, the world may actually benefit if it forces them to adopt better environmental practices: they may not have realized that in today's world of blogs, cameraphones, and YouTube, you can't hide for long. London is the next host for the 2012 games. We already know that the UK has the highest rate of landfill use per capita in Europe. How do you plan to handle waste of Olympic proportions? We'll be watching, London.

Hey, you with the cell phone - pay attention. It could save your life.

On the way to the metro this morning, I witnessed something that gave me quite a jolt. A man with a cell phone glued to his ear jogged across a busy thoroughfare when the light was red for him. After he passed the median, he kept going. A car was coming in the centre of three lanes just as he got there, slammed on the brakes and hit him. With a screech and thud my heart stopped as I watched him bend at the waist and then bounce off the hood of the car and roll back onto the road. By some miracle, the man got up, phone still glued to his ear, and ran up the street. I couldn't believe it. I imagine he felt some pain after the shock wore off later on. That poor driver must have been shaken by the experience, as well.

The point of my telling you about this is not to wonder at his good fortune, but to underline the inevitability of the event. People lose focus while they're on the phone. I've had many occasions where I've had to honk at oblivious jaywalkers and judgement-impaired pedestrians as they wander into the street absorbed in their phone or music player. If this sounds like you, then I'm asking you to keep your head up, your eyes open, and to be more aware of what's going on around you. The last thing I'll say is that guy is damn lucky the driver wasn't on the phone.

White vinegar = cleaning product

I've read a number of useful columns on a site called Dumb Little Man. This one confirms something with which others have also agreed: white vinegar should be placed under the sink as a cleaning product and not used for cooking. The article suggests a few ways to use vinegar for cleaning and if you're interested in natural cleaning products, you can also look up what you can do with lemon juice or tea tree oil, as well. I know that lemon juice works really well in removing calcium deposits in the bottom of a kettle, for example. Even if you don't use them exclusively, it's a good idea to use them on surfaces where you prepare food so that you don't have to worry about any harsh chemical cleansers in your meals. Happy cleaning.

Notice to Attached People

A few times now over the past few weeks, I've received surprisingly insensitive comments from Attached People about my currently being single. The comments were particularly blunt from those with children: "You have to stop doing this; you know, you're almost out of time; etc." Here's a little reminder to those who spoke those words: there's a 50% chance you won't stay attached You have the same probability of maintaining your current status as you do winning a coin toss: heads you win, tails you lose your wife/husband and kids. Is that really something to gloat about?

Another related topic is the idea of a Soul Mate. While the idea that there is a perfect person out there for someone, I think the odds of meeting The One is astronomically small. I think that people end up with someone with whom there's good chemistry and who meets enough of the items on the checklist. For you to meet that person takes luck and for things to last takes effort, compromise, and a little more luck. Granted, you can improve your luck by adopting certain attitudes and behaviours, but you can't control all events. If you're attached, how certain are you that you would stay together if you lost both your savings due to your investment choices; if you changed physically and weren't attractive to them anymore; if you discovered your partner wasn't really working late?

Given all the things that need to go right for a relationship to work out, I'm asking you, Attached People, to be a little more understanding and encouraging with those of us who, despite the odds, are trying.

Food Network junkie

I can't pinpoint exactly when it started, but sometime over the past year, I've become really interested in making whatever food I'm preparing really good. I've been cooking my own meals for about eight years now, but used to be very practical about it, seeing food as something to keep me going with occasional splurges or efforts to make something special. I used to find it difficult to make something interesting if it were just for me. Somehow, somewhere, that changed. Maybe it was the book Taste that K gave me, or spending Saturday evenings making dinner for ourselves and slowly enjoying a bottle of wine with F, getting a culinary schooling from R who cooks at restaurant quality or better - when's the last time *you* made preserved lemons? see?

I think what tipped the scales for me was getting the Food Network. It was and is a real eye-opener and inspiration to take things up a notch. I've gone from making things that were alright to growing herbs in my window sill - basil, mint, rosemary, and parsley seem to do OK - to making the breakfast bread I've always wanted filled with raisins, cranberries, orange rind, cinnamon, vanilla, walnuts, almonds, whole wheat flour and flax. R teases me is inching its way to becoming fruitcake, but I swear, I've only used a little alcohol once when I had no oranges. A little Curacao never hurt anyone, right? Seeing Jamie Oliver get so much enjoyment out of simple, fresh ingredients, Ricardo Larivee make an effort to support local producers, Iron Chefs' creative variations on an ingredient (and I don't mind that there's some prior-to-show knowledge), and of course, the sweet, pretty Laura Calder whose mix of French cooking skills and girl-next-door charm leave me weak-in-the-knees and craving toasty baguette, creamy Brie, and an earthy Bordeaux.

To leave you with something useful, here's something I've discovered prevents the burning eyes brought on by chopping onions: I've found that if I take the cutting board over to the stove and turn on the overhead fan to at least medium speed, my eyes don't burn. Apparently, if you have a gas stove, you can also burn off the syn-propanethial-S-oxide gas.

Bon Appétit!

Winter: all the more agile for it?

As I walked home this evening, dodging huge slush puddles, and climbing over snowbanks like a mountain goat, I wondered if there are going to be some interesting benefits to all the snow we've had this year (over 3 metres total so far). I'm sure we're going to find we have a little extra agility on the soccer field, that our ankles feel strong when jogging, or that our sense of balance has improved and we no longer tip over in yoga class. I can also imagine that after this winter, summer is going to one long celebration of sunshine with terrasses (patios) packed for 5 à 7s (happy hour) from May to September. For now, don't forget your boots. You'll need 'em.

Happy Brew Year

Alright, perhaps it's a bit late for New Year's wishes. Our family's Ukrainian, though, so I'll ask that you be kind and consider that Ukr. New Year just took place on Jan. 14. (For a detailed explanation on the transition from a Julian to a Gregorian calendar, this article is quite interesting.) Regardless, I hope that you're having a good one so far and that you haven't already blown your New Year's resolve to learn to tango, lose 2.6 pounds of fruit cake padding, and learn conversational Urdu by the second week of January. If that is the case, then I do have some good news for you if you're a coffee drinker: new research - including a 125 000 person, 10-year study by Harvard School of Public Health researchers - shows that moderate consumption has health benefits due to the antioxidant properties of caffeine. Among other things, it's been shown to reduce the risk of liver cancer and kidney tumours. So, if the new year hasn't gotten off to the start you'd hoped for, I hope this bit of news perks you up (painful pun intended).

Roll on

I started to notice it two years ago: the room designated for bike lockup at work would fill up earlier and earlier to the point where if one arrived after 8:30 AM, it meant locking one's bike on the street. There's a definite trend here in Montreal, as in many other North American cities, towards increased bike usage. With increased fuel costs and people wanting to reduce their carbon footprint, urban cycling is on the rise. The recent start of construction on a bike lane connecting east and west parts of the city along De Maisonneuve and the addition of sharrows on other streets to improve the flow of cyclists show that the city is encouraging this trend. A Wired article on trends in bike sales also shows that people are looking for simpler, practical bikes to use for city commuting.

For those of you who've never tried cycling to work (and live close enough to do so), give it a whirl. It's a nice change from standing on an overheated bus or cramped metro. For drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists, please use your heads when using this newly shared space: expect the unexpected as people slowly become accustomed to changes in their normal paths to work. For cyclists, biking with your iPod just in't smart. Please don't do it. Cities are busy and you need your ears to pick up on audio cues signaling a potential accident. People who care about you don't want you to end up like this teen. Happy riding.

The hope for Rock Star

The Cambridge, MA based company which brought the gaming world Guitar Hero is coming up with an extension of the idea of game-based music making with Rock Band. In the game, four players will play the parts of vocals, guitar, bass, and drums along to tracks in order to win points according to how closely they can follow a song.

It sounds like fun, but I'm more interested to see if experiencing something which resembles actual music making pushes some people to upgrade from plastic controllers to the real things. Pushing a button which sounds a guitar chord on your TV is one thing, making a real guitar crunch out chords through a humming amplifier is something else. I agree with what one of the company's founders had to say in a Wired article about the upcoming release: it will change how some people experience and appreciate music in that they'll be excited about 'playing' a song. Hopefully, that will help the real musicians who have dedicated a large part of their lives to learning their instruments gain new respect and appreciation for their talent and dedication and perhaps give some people the push they need to create their own music.

Dumb Little Man

The other day, I added content to my iGoogle page from a site called Dumb Little Man. Today, there was an article by Tom O'Leary entitled How to Win from a Loss. I know, know, more motivationalspeak. I thought this was a good one, though, as far as those go and thought it worth including here.

Don't work longer, work smarter

The Canadian Labour Congress president is requesting that the federal government legislate more paid time off for workers. He states that Canadian work more hours than the majority of their European counterparts. (brief article) Although this may not seem like an option that businesses would want to consider, it would likely be a worthy investment in their most valuable asset: their employees. Employees who are well rested, happy with their work environment, and feel that their employer encourages a balance in their work and home life are more likely to be productive at work and less likely to be absent or to take stress leave. In addition to allowing for more time off, better time and task management also needs to be encouraged and taught. I agree strongly with the notion that to work more effectively requires more focus with fewer distractions, not longer hours or trying to do many things at once (article). These thoughts are echoed here, here, and here. It's unfortunate that the fear of being of the next to be downsized leads us to work longer hours and take on yet another task or project. This is largely because it's difficult to say 'no'. The next time you're honestly at your capacity, defer or decline that extra task that would remove focus from your existing projects. It'll help you handle your existing work more effectively and also let others know your reasonable limits. That's good task and time management. Try it.

Know yourself, know your career

I'm currently at the beginning of the job hunt process. Although I don't have an indefinite time to discover the perfect career for myself, I'm definitely approaching this go at it differently than in the past. R lent me a book called What Color is Your Parachute? which apart from giving good general job search advice, gives good career and self-assessment advice. There is a great focus on knowing yourself and your skills before approaching potential employers. For example, how would you answer the question "Who Am I?" if asked to write down ten answers then prioritize them? In discussing the book and its ideas with other people, one person observed that some companies work like football teams with one quarterback dictating plays whereas other are like soccer teams where people contribute more equally in generating plays. Do you enjoy soccer or football and does this match your work environment? Are you happy there? That could be a reason why (for either a 'yes' or 'no'). It's interesting to note that my previous supervisor played and loves football whereas I prefer and still play soccer. ; )

How $7.50 could save your life.

Or at least save your face. It's amazing how many people I see on bicycle riding around at night with not a single light. As a cyclist who's also a driver, I realize how difficult it can be to see people cycling at night. I won't even get into the topic of not wearing a helmet here, but if you're going to ride at night, please invest in one of these and one of these. For a grand total of $7.50, they do a great job of making you visible to other drivers who are already distracted by cell phones, blaring music, GPS screens, pets in the car, etc. Maybe get a few for your cycling friends while you're at it, too.

The world is your oyster not your dumpster

A few weeks ago, a Montrealer was caught on camera by his friend teaching someone the lesson in the subject line. He saw someone dumping the ashtray of their car onto the sidewalk, and promptly walked up to the car, picked up a handful of the discarded butts and dumped it back in the man's lap. Here's a CBC article with accompanying links to a video on YouTube, and a radio interview with him.

The act brings up a number of points to think about, from why people think it's OK to dump their trash in public areas, to why more people don't stand up to offenders. I'd like to think that most people would like to live cleaner, greener lives if they could believe they could make a difference with small gestures. I also believe that if we weren't afraid of each other and were more accepting of criticism, we'd be able to provide guidance to each other when messed up - pun intended.

A break from the busyness of life

Between soccer, volleyball, guitar lessons, x-country skiing, spending time with the fabulous R, and new projects at work (we're takin' over the government, arrr.. which, put this way, will only make sense to Fel, MB, and MB's brother who laughed when I put it that way), life's been fairly busy. Perhaps a little too busy. I ended up taking yesterday off with a cold and working from home today so as to avoid spreading my cold. It's hard not to think that all that activity was perhaps a little too much and the cold was a way for me to take a little time to slow things down a bit. Tonight, I listened, and took a little time to prepare a simple dinner of Bhuna chicken (ok, from paste), saffron rice, salad with romaine, onion, walnuts, mint, and capers and an olive oil, honey, lime, cayenne pepper dressing. And of course, a classic martini to sip as I enjoyed this. Ah, now that's better.

Wint*r W*nderland

It's been a while since I've posted - longer than I'd thought it had been, actually. I've been pleasantly distracted by ongoings in the offline world. It's funny how things happen sometimes, but very shortly after the Impersonals post, I met a great gal who loves to x-country ski. Now, either of those two items alone would be reason to have less time for posting: both together, well, you know the results.

It's really looking like the picture postcard winter one imagines when thinking of Montreal in winter, and there has been good, and lately, great skiing to be found on our beloved Mont Royal. Having the park in the middle of downtown is one of the pleasures of living in Montreal and having someone to ski it with is just great. Yesterday felt like a one-day holiday, for example: went to Eggspectations for breakfast, then x-country skiing in fresh, powdery snow, then to the Atwater market to pick up great cheese, baguette, and wine for dinner followed by a mindless but fun movie (Pirates of the Caribbean II). A great day of R&R with R.