So after an initial angry Tweet and a Facebook status rant, a little birdie sent me some very interesting info (I love social media)… Let’s use it to put the pressure on for “Buy Local”! The items in ( italics ) are my additions!

Circle K is an international chain of convenience stores. It is owned and operated by the Canadian-based Alimentation Couche-Tard (here’s the Wikipedia link) – Not Irving. (I knew that part, Irving leased their sites to them in the summer of 2008. But Irving has the power to influence them – I hope!)

All purchasing decisions have to be approved by head office – and since local produce isn’t available year-round, they only allow produce contracts with suppliers who can provide year-round availability. (Lazy Jerks…)

It’s EXTREMELY hard to get approval for a purchasing contract through head office. Apparently the big stop in Miramichi sells local, but he is an anomaly because head office doesn’t like it! (Good to see some of them are doing it the right way)

Their website purports to putting 1% of net earnings to the support of youth, health, welfare, and humanitarian causes. That all sounds great, but by buying our apples from Chile and shipping them thousands of miles to Eastern Canada – particularly when there are magnificent local apples hanging on the trees all around New Brunswick – they are destroying the environment, damaging our health with under-nourished imported fruits and vegetables, and negatively impacting the future for these same youth. My “fresh” apple from Irving / Circle K has made a journey of many thousands of miles to get to me…

From their Operations Team page, it appears Michel Bernard is their Eastern Canada Operations VP, so he might be a great one to send your complaints to!

I am sure if Mr. Bernard was truly interested in helping create a sustainable food supply for the people his company says it helps with 1% of net earnings, he could find a very high-quality supply of local apples simply by contacting the following people:

APPLE GROWERS OF NEW BRUNSWICK
168 Cyr Street
Dieppe, NB
E1A 7Z1
Euclide Bourgeois, Chairman
Paul LeBlanc, Secretary-Manager
Tel: (506) 386-8100
Fax: (506) 461-1627

What does this mean??? Well, it looks like it is time to get a grassroots campaign started! I haven’t pissed off a multinational company in weeks…

Here’s some contact information, let’s get started!

Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc.
4204 Industriel Blvd.
Laval, Quebec, Canada
H7L 0E3
Tel : (450) 662-6632 or (800) 361-2612
Fax : (450) 662-6648

info@couche-tard.com

investor.relations@couche-tard.com

Footnote: Once we are done with Irving / Circle K, we need to start working on Sobeys for the same practices, but that’s a rant for another day!

This one rips at me in many ways… My comments are likely to stir up mixed responses, but that’s OK, healthy debate makes us a stronger society!

First, it is wrong to shoot an unarmed person, even an enemy in a theatre of war. Anyone who argues against that doesn’t understand that whether or not you “like” the enemy, there are rules we must follow. Fighting an enemy that doesn’t follow the rules doesn’t give us carte blanch to forget the rules. If we fail to follow our own rules, we have absolutely no moral grounds to be there.

Second, while many good soldiers have been killed by injured enemies through the years, I heard nothing about whether he thought the injured man was a threat, which could have justified the shooting.

Third, even an enemy’s life has value to someone. The enemy is fighting for a cause they believe in, whether or not we agree with it (obviously we don’t, or we wouldn’t have troops there fighting them). Regardless, their zeal cannot be considered any less valid a position than that of the crusaders in the past.

Finally, to debunk his defense argument for the shooting, while I am a proponent of euthanasia for terminally ill people, it has to be at their request, not a decision made by another person. If they opened up “mercy killing” to soldiers, it could really get dicey with regards to wounded POWs, etc. Soldiers are not doctors, they can’t unequivocally state who will survive and who won’t.

Overall, I agree with the guilty verdict for disgraceful conduct. However, if the facts in the story are correct (which isn’t a given by any stretch!), shooting an unarmed man who poses no threat to you or your unit regardless of whether it happens in a theatre of war, really does constitute murder. He is an officer who leads troops. This means he must conduct himself to an even higher degree than the men who serve under him and must also set an example for them. This is not an example I would want to be taught to our soldiers.

His decision was not what I would consider to be one that was well thought out nor did it display leadership. It really is difficult to make the right decisions in many situations, particularly when every decision he makes is likely to be judged by “armchair quarterbacks” not at the front nor in the fight, but it has always been that way in a professional army, and that is the task he swore an oath to perform. This guy didn’t swear to flip burgers or push paper, he swore an oath to fight in a war if required, and to follow a very strict set of rules. Those rules were designed over many centuries to try and maintain a level of professionalism, and lives on both sides are on the line.

The consequences of inappropriate actions by our soldiers, particularly those in leadership roles, can be devastating, as this incident has proven. Thankfully, few of us will ever have to face this.

Just as an aside, if he gets any amount of prison time, the first 2 years will be served at the military prison in Edmonton, which is more like 10 years in a civilian prison, then he will be transferred to a regular prison.

Aidan too!

And me, playing around with some underwater self-portrait shots.

I am really enjoying my new Ikelite Housing for my Canon SD1400 IS camera!

While I picked it up mainly as an affordable method for taking underwater still and video while I am SCUBA diving, this housing has also come in handy for me in the pool!

Don’t get me wrong, I feel no ill will toward the Queen, and applaud the good things some royal family members do for others. But even if it gives some people a “good feeling” to have the monarchy as a connection to our roots or because of some nostalgia they have, does that make it right?

Though it is now only a symbolic position, in today’s world, the fact that royalty and classes remain – and worse still are inherited positions – is anachronistic, irrelevant, and makes a statement about being born into money and/or power without the requirement of doing anything whatsoever to earn it that I just don’t agree with.

I understand why Andrew MacIsaac cried. This is a sad state of affairs in what has always been an open, friendly society. It also brings to mind one of my favourite quotes:

“Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both”
– Benjamin Franklin

Just for fun – I know that many of you are marking this week …

***

Dear Mr. McIntyre:

I realize that the Legislature is not currently sitting and won’t be in session again until after an election takes place, but I think this topic is worth acting upon immediately.

As a resident of New Brunswick, I find it embarrassing that we are one of only two provinces that have not found it important enough to save our resident’s lives by making the use of a cellular telephone or any electronic device while driving a criminal act.

On January 5, 2010, Public Safety Minister John Foran publicly stated that New Brunswick is “studying” a ban. The following studies have already been done, years ago:

A 2005 study can be found here: http://www.cartest.ca/cell_phones_and_driving_late.htm

A 2006 Utah news article about a study by the University of Utah titled “Drivers on cell phones are as bad as drunks”: http://www.unews.utah.edu/p/?r=062206-1

Here is a PDF overview of the UTAH study findings: http://www.hfes.org/Web/Pubpages/celldrunk.pdf

The complete Utah study can be purchased and downloaded here for $28 + tax: http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/hfes/hf/2006/00000048/00000002/art00014

Some articles from Canada that suggest even hands-free devices are not safe: http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2009/07/21/cellphone-driving.html

This 2010 study in New York found that bans on handheld device use in densely populated areas caused a reduction, often dramatic, in accidents and fatalities: http://scienceblog.com/29826/study-cell-phone-bans-while-driving-have-more-impact-in-dense-urban-areas/

There is no more need for more studies. They have been done and the results are clear. What is needed now is effective leadership and fast action. Every day that is lost has the potential to cost more lives.

A group of Saint John High School Film Study students created the following video in a plea to try and convince young people to stop driving and texting. I suggest this video is in response to their frustration at a government they see as not doing its job.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqfwcbw2oaU

Thank you for considering this message and I hope to hear of you championing it as part of your legacy to the people of New Brunswick.

Regards,

Chris London

***

The email and mailing address for all NB MLAs can be found here: http://app.infoaa.7700.gnb.ca/gnb/pub/ListMLA1.asp

If you send an email to any or all MLAs, I recommend you also send a letter to them to ensure they officially respond that they have received your letter. Email correspondence often isn’t taken as seriously as a letter.

Why was I interested in noise cancelling headsets? Let’s just say I have a really great neighbour who sometimes enjoys different types of music than me and it seemed easier to buy these for those times when I would rather listen to something else!

So it is rather funny that I listened to my first set of Bose Quiet Comfort QC15 Headphones while visiting an Apple retail store in San Francisco, California. They had all types of headsets on display for demonstrating their quality, noise cancellation, etc., and this one beat them all, hands down. The store was bustling with well over 100 very eager Apple fanatics, lining up and grouping up to play with and throw their money at the recently released iPads. It was also located on Stockton, just off Market Street, in one of the busiest areas in San Francisco’s downtown core. Add to that the noise from the amplified Apple Genius giving a training session on the aforementioned iPad, as well as the Genius Tech Support bar and the other large batch of regulars who make up the customers in the Apple stores and I think you will understand how loud it was in there. It was noisy!

I put many headsets on while I was in the store, but these were the only one that drowned out the din of the store and let me listen to the music. It sounded like I was alone in a hall somewhere listening to a private concert. That was impressive!

After a few weeks of thinking it over, comparing alternatives, and speaking with some knowledgeable audiophile friends, I decided to buy a set and try them out at home. I mean, who needs to eat? I could do to lose a few pounds anyway…

Headset

(All images are from the originals on the Bose site. I made no changes other than cropping and sizing to fit)

The quality of workmanship is high on this set, considering there is a significant amount of plastic. The band is covered with a leather wrap, and the earpieces are also leather. This device is actually quite light and comfortable to wear over extended periods of time. Trust me, I’ve done it.

Noise Cancellation

Yup, it’s there. Yup, it works! As a matter of fact, it works great!

One night I was doing laundry and listening to the usual washer and dryer audio detritus when I decided to put these puppies to the test. I didn’t even have music playing in the background, I simply placed the set on my head and threw the battery power switch. Instant silence. Wow!

I have a friend who swears by his set of QC15s for all airline flights. He said you just sit down, put the headset on, and you can easily avoid talking to the chatty person beside you, eliminate the engine roar, and ignore everyone else on the plane. His advice: if you do any amount of traveling, these are a must to own. After my experience in the Apple store and now my quiet laundry day revelations, I would have to agree with him. I have a trip to Toronto in a few weeks, I’ll have to do my airline tests then.

How does it work? The QC15 headset is battery operated. Somehow, they trapped a Leprechaun into each headset and somehow that Leprechaun stops noise from entering by using a magical sound-capture device. Or maybe it uses electronic frequencies and electronic engineering. I can’t remember which…

In any case, it takes one AAA battery to power these bad boys into noise cancellation mode, and the propaganda states you get about 40 hours of listening with each battery. This is actually quite good compared to some others headsets I have researched. BUT… while requiring batteries isn’t unusual for noise cancellers, what happens when your battery dies is disappointing with these ones. These headsets become expensive ear warmers without power. Not ony does the noise cancellation feature stop working, the headset stops working, there is no sound at all!!! That is a major flaw, and one that I think could (and should) be rectified by Bose in future models.

While I understand that power is needed to create a noise-cancelling environment, these headsets are dead in the water if your AAA battery dies on you. So, “always keep some spares around” is good advice, but in all honesty, why did Bose miss the boat so badly on this one? Why not simply allow them to function as normal headphones when batteries are dead and/or the switch is off? Others headsets do, why not Bose?

Cable

OK, it is good that they created a detachable cable. The cable is by far the most likely item to wear on a headset. It also has a detachment mechanism that will withstand normal tug, but will also release if there is a sudden tug, as my 4 year old daughter proved by jumping on my lap while I was drowning out her cartoons…

It is also a single cable, and it plugs into the left ear piece.

But while they very properly made the cable a separate piece, they also counter-sunk and moulded the end of the cable that plugs into the bottom area of the left earpiece… That means you must order genuine Bose replacement cables and, an even bigger mistake on their part, Bose must manufacture a different replacement cable for each of their products. Not smart. Really. Think about it, nobody would question a generic looking cable that plugged into the bottom of a pretty moulded earpiece!

Airplane adaptor

One of the things they tell you not to do in the manual is plug these headsets directly into the older dual-prong airline audio systems. (Yes, I read the manual, right after I had used the headset for a few days…) Luckily, they provide an adaptor for the old style plugs.

(Sorry about the lack of good images for this – this is all they had on the website and I was too lazy to set up a photo shoot for this thing. Sue me…)

Carrying Case

The headphones come with a great little carrying case that is semi-hard sided. Nothing says “Steal Me” quite like an identifiable carrying case, but hey, life is all about labels and branding these days!

This case should serve well for keeping the headset and cable protected from most day-to-day hardships and from the wear and tear of being inside backpacks and laptop bags. It also has a pouch for holding your airline adaptor, some corny “About my headphones” cards you are supposed to give to people who are so interested in your head fashion (Bose? WTF???), and some extra room, which is great for your spare batteries! (and of course the crappy Apple earbuds that you will need to use if you run out of batteries…)

Review by the numbers

Design 8.5/10 – The overall design is awesome. I would almost rate it as flawless, if it weren’t for what I see as a major example of form over function -

Sound Quality 9.5/10 – The sound quality really is awesome! I have placed these on the heads of several people who were very skeptical of the price and they were suitably impressed. One of the first things I listened to when I received them was a podcast of an interview by CBC’s Q host Jian Ghomeshi with Van Morrison from last Fall and I could hear every nuance, every tapped finger, every half-breath… Impressive.

If there were one weakness, it would be with the bass. It seems a tiny bit weak. Now, I’m not a fan of massive, hard-hitting bass all the time anyway, so this really doesn’t concern me (it really isn’t THAT noticeable), but the fact I noticed it means someone who was a metal head or acid rocker or similar may be a bit disappointed.

Functionality 8.5/10 – I would love to rate these higher, but their major strength – noise cancellation – is also what takes away from their functionality. Unless you are well-insured, don’t try wearing these while walking around in traffic-filled streets. I guarantee you won’t even hear the car or bus that takes you out… Also, the fact that without battery power they are useless is a big detractor. Yes, I purchased a 4-pack of AAA batteries to ensure this never happens, but this level of headset really should at least work without noise cancellation when the battery dies mid-flight.

Value 8/10 – Value is always like beauty, in the eye of the beholder. These headsets are phenomenal, no question. But they are also at the high end of the spectrum, even for noise cancellers. $299 USD ($349 CDN) is a steep price to pay for a headset. Period. What is a fair price? Not sure. My Shure SRH440s were about $120 CDN and provided a similar sound quality, but they were bulkier, heavier, and not as comfortable to wear for long periods of time. They were also not noise cancellers.

Overall Assessment – If you can afford them, they are worth their weight in gold for noise cancellation. They also have a great sound and are very comfortable to wear for long periods of time. But if you have a relatively controlled noise environment and don’t fly or travel by public transportation much, save your money and buy something without noise cancellation for $100 – $150 less and you will get really great sound that doesn’t need batteries.

***

Mobile Communications Kit

Despite the initial price tag, the QC15 is designed specifically as a headset and not for use with a smartphone right out of the box. I was a little concerned about this when I was doing my research, because I wanted something to use mainly with my iPhone, and I already had a set of Shure SRH440s that I had to take off whenever I received a call on my iPhone. That was a pain and I was not willing to continue doing it. I looked into other options.

Shure has a mobile microphone adaptor (they better, they are known for microphones!), but it does not replace the headset cables, it simply acts as an adaptor, giving me an even longer set of cables to deal with Shure headset cables are 10′ and coiled – imagine carrying that cable around, attached to your iPhone!

So research showed me that Bose has a “Mobile Communications Kit” (MCA), which can be purchased for use with the QC15s for about $50. As I have already described, an add-on like this is a must for anyone using their iPhone as their music source. It also has various cable size adaptors, which might be handy, but the default connector fits my iPhone 3GS perfectly, so not so necessary for me.

As you can imagine, after having forked out for the headset, I was a bit queasy with the idea of a $50 price tag on top of that. I kept thinking “it is just a microphone and cable!”.

But when they arrived, whether or not I agreed with the methodology, I understood the price. The cable replaces the original cable and the end that inserts into the headphones is engineered to fit exactly into the same spot and fill the missing curved area, just like the original. Remember when I said it would have made more sense for Bose to make the cable jack more generic? This is where they would have saved on manufacturing costs, and I could have saved on the retail cost.

However, with all the great work and thought put into the rest of the piece, would it be too much to ask for a talk/end button? Their mobile earbuds have it, their over the ear mobile set have it… Did they just forget???

Review of the Mobile Communications Kit…

Design 10/10 – Although I think it was stupid of them to make the cable the way they did, I am sure someone thought it was prettier this way (and I’ve already beat them up about that issue above).

Sound Quality 10/10 – (of the microphone) Anyone I talked to has stated the sound quality when speaking with me was great. I have yet to try it outside on a windy day or in a busy area, but I will eventually.

Functionality 5/10 – I gave it a 5/10 because it functions as a microphone allows me to answer calls without removing the headset. But that is only 50% of the functionality of a smartphone microphone. I must actually take the iPhone out and touch the screen to answer and answer AND end calls… Major fail for Bose on that one. Fire that design engineer!

Overall Assessment – They are designed specifically to fit, the microphone quality is great, and the cable is short. That makes this device great to use with your iPhone and QC15 headset. But the lack of a Talk/End button is really annoying and I would have to recommend anyone looking at this (or any other headset they use with a smartphone/iPhone) to look into the Griffin SmartTalk adaptor for less than 1/2 the price.

Hey, it’s Google’s fault, not mine!

They are doing it for the sake of the people, it was what the people decided and they are working with it. A very democratic viewpoint, one shared by most Western democracies, a majority of which govern by coalition every day. As a matter of fact, coalitions represent the will of the people better than any single majority government (“dictatorship”?) ever could.

And I haven’t heard a single UK resident or politician (or even a Canadian Conservative…) utter the words “coup d’etat” while describing this particular coalition.

According to this article: “Prime Minister Stephen Harper offered Cameron his “sincere and heartfelt” congratulations, adding that Canada and Britain share a deep and enduring friendship forged by “hundreds of years of shared history, values and tradition.” All this without mentioning anything at all about his own feelings toward coalitions…

“Hundreds of years of shared history, values, and tradition”. Funny thing to hear from the man who screamed at the top of his lungs that democracy was being thwarted and called it an “undemocratic attempt to usurp power from his newly elected government through a backroom deal.” when the Liberals and NDP talked about a coalition.

I guess coalitions must only be a bad thing when Canada’s Conservatives are not invited…

I completely understand that the governments of the world we currently inhabit remain more concerned with today’s economy (read ‘the corporations’) than with living within our means or even trying to save the planet for the future of our kids. I also realize this is capitalist consumerism at its finest, forcing society to buy crap they don’t need just to “keep the economic cogs turning”.

But this is ridiculous. How about throwing even a small bone toward being environmentally friendly? Really, the world is shifting, albeit slowly, to a greener way of life, and this is driven by absolute necesity and the survival of the species. But corporate bulldogs fight it every step of the way with misinformation, threats, warnings of economic impacts, and outright lies. I think it is time to call their bluff!

I recycle. I turn the water off when I brush my teeth. I buy vehicles that get a gazillion kilometres to the tank. These are all the usual suspects that are in keeping with the propaganda the government is pretending to push these days. But if the government truly cared about the environment and sustainability as opposed to simply greasing the wheels of the corporate economy, they would implement some simple rules to ensure the products we use lasted a little longer and were not created with planned obsolescence.

And it would be easy to fix this issue. All electronic devices for sale in the modern world should be required to have memory expansion ports that accept industry-standard media cards. The Secure Digital (or SD as it is commonly known) card format would be a good choice for most devices simply because of size, capacity, and standardization. This small enhancement would enable additional features, software, operating system upgrades, etc., to be loaded to existing devices, regardless of a lack of built-in memory (also known as a lack of foresight and/or a war to bring you the cheapest price possible, regardless of consequences).

Having the latest processor that can power up my GPS 0.25 seconds faster is not a big deal to me. Having up-to-date maps on the other hand, can be pretty handy. That is only software. That is easy to implement. And that sure doesn’t cost as much to distribute as it does to build, market, program, and distribute a whole new device. But you would never know that from the price.

A lesson on how consultants can make a difference in an organization.

Last week, we took some friends to a new restaurant, "Steve’s Place," and noticed that the waiter who took our order carried a spoon in his shirt pocket.

It seemed a little strange. When the busboy brought our water and utensils, I observed that he also had a spoon in his shirt pocket.

Then I looked around and saw that all the staff had spoons in their pockets. When the waiter came back to serve our soup I inquired, "Why the spoon?"

"Well," he explained, "the restaurant’s owner hired Andersen Consulting to revamp all of our processes. After several months of analysis, they concluded that the spoon was the most frequently dropped utensil.  It represents a drop frequency of approximately 3 spoons per table per hour.  If our personnel are better prepared, we can reduce the number of trips back to the kitchen and save 15 man-hours per shift."

As luck would have it, I dropped my spoon and he replaced it with his spare. "I’ll get another spoon next time I go to the kitchen instead of making an extra trip to get it right now."  I was impressed.

I also noticed that there was a string hanging out of the waiter’s fly.

Looking around, I saw that all of the waiters had the same string hanging from their flies. So, before he walked off, I asked the waiter, "Excuse me, but can you tell me why you have that string right there?"

"Oh, certainly!"  Then he lowered his voice. "Not everyone is so observant. That consulting firm I mentioned also learned that we can save time in the bathroom.  By tying this string to the tip of our you-know-what, we can pull it out without touching it and eliminate the need to wash our hands, shortening the time spent in the restroom by 76.39%."

I asked quietly, "After you get it out, how do you put it back?"

"Well," he whispered, "I don’t know about the others, but I use the spoon…"

"And thus, dear students, we have arrived at the formula for understanding women"…

***

This is an exciting new program, explained with the Q and A format:

Q.  What is an Economic Stimulus payment ?
A.  It is money that the federal government will send to taxpayers.

Q.  Where will the government get this money ?
A.  From taxpayers.

Q.  So the government is giving me back my own money ?
A.  Only a smidgen.

Q.  What is the purpose of this payment ?
A.  The plan is that you will use the money to purchase a high-definition TV set, thus stimulating the economy.

Q.  But isn’t that stimulating the economy of China ?
A.  Shut up.

Below are tips on how to help the Canadian economy, by spending your stimulus money wisely:
  *   If you spend it at Wal-Mart, the money will go to China.
  *   If you spend it on gasoline, your money will go to the Middle East.
  *   If you purchase a computer, it will go to Taiwan and/or India.
  *   If you purchase fruit and vegetables, it will go to Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala (some to Arnold in California)
  *   If you buy a car, it will go to Japan or South Korea.
  *   If you purchase useless stuff, it will go to Taiwan.
  *   If you pay your credit cards off, or buy stock, it will go to management bonuses and they will hide it offshore.

Instead, keep your money in Canada by:
  1.  Spending it at yard sales, or
  2.  Going to hockey games, or
  3.  Spending it on prostitutes, or
  4.  Beer, or ??
  5.  Tattoos

These are the only “Canadian owned” businesses still operating in Canada.

As for me? I think I’m going to go see a hockey game with a tattooed prostitute that I met at a yard sale, and we’re going to drink lots of beer! 

I have a particular interest in the results this year, since my sister won a trip for 4 to a Stanley Cup Finals game from Research in Motion and has graciously invited her favourite brother to join her! (I may even hide my iPhone 3GS when I travel as a ‘thank you’ to RIM…).

In any case, I saw the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs Challenge contest and decided, for fun, to share my very non-technical, non-professional, non-educated guesses on the results of the first round of playoffs.

EAST
Washington(1) vs Montreal(8)
This is a no-brainer. Not only do I completely despise Montreal for all the childhood trauma they caused me while beating out my Boston Bruins so many times, but Washington really is a massive steam-roller ready to squish this little tiny shadow of a team, a team that barely managed to squeak into the playoffs. Nothing personal Montreal fans…

RESULT: Washington in 5

***

New Jersey(2) vs Philadelphia(7)
I like New Jersey, and they arguably have the best goaltender to ever play the game between the pipes, but I just have a hunch, and I personally like Philadelphia as a team better than I like New Jersey (hey, I warned you this wasn’t a completely technical set of predictions!)

RESULT: Philadelphia in 6

***

Buffalo(3) vs Boston(6)
I know Buffalo has the better team on paper, but Boston has had their number this year in the regular season, and honestly, the Bruins (no matter how badly they are playing) are my team, so I have to make this prediction!

RESULT: Boston in 6

***

Pittsburgh(4) vs Ottawa(5)
As much as I would love to see an Ottawa / Vancouver finals, it won’t happen. Pittsburgh just has too much talent, plus they have Sid the Kid, who will cause much havoc, either by scoring, or by causing the opposing teams to stick their best defenders on him at all times and opening things up for his teammates. Either way, I fear Ottawa is joining Toronto on the golf course soon!

RESULT: Pittsburgh in 6

***

WEST
San Jose(1) vs Colorado(8)
Having seen NHL games in San Jose, I would love to go back! It seemed strange to walk past rows of palm trees to go in and watch a hockey game at first, but I got used to it quickly! PLUS, hockey just wouldn’t be the same without the thought of my buddy Steve from San Jose (aka Sirenman) cheering on his Sharks with his siren call (they call him Sirenman for a reason!)

RESULT: San Jose in 5

***

Chicago(2) vs Nashville(7)
This one is pretty plain, Chicago = powerhouse, Nashville = Not so much powerhouse.

RESULT: Chicago in 5

***

Vancouver(3) vs Los Angeles(6)
I think Vancouver has a legitimate chance of going far this year. Can they go to the finals? Not sure yet, but it is great to have a legitimate Canadian contender!

RESULT: Vancouver in 6

***

Phoenix(4) vs Detroit(5)
Despite the power and playoff history in Detroit, I think Phoenix has something to prove this year, after all the crap about moving, bankruptcy, etc., at the start of the season. I would have preferred to be cheering for them as the Hamilton Coyotes or Winnipeg Jets, but hey, I have a good buddy living in Phoenix and may get a chance to visit him if the Coyotes make it to the finals!

RESULT: Phoenix in 6

***

That’s it, take it as exactly what it is, good fun!

Two blondes living in Oklahoma  were sitting on a bench talking, and one blonde says to the other, "Which do you think is farther away…. Florida or the moon?"  

The other blonde turns and says "Helloooooooooo, can you see Florida ?????"  

CAR TROUBLE 
A blonde pushes her BMW into a gas station. She tells the mechanic it died. 

After he works on it for a few minutes, it is idling smoothly. 

She says, "What’s the story?" 

He replies, "Just crap in the carburetor.." 

She asks, "How often do I have to do that?" 

SPEEDING TICKET 
A police officer stops a blonde for speeding and asks her very nicely if he could see her license.

She replied in a huff, "I wish you guys would get your act together. Just yesterday you take away my license and then today you expect me to show it to you!" 

RIVER WALK
There’s this blonde out for a walk. She comes to a river and sees another blonde on the opposite bank. "Yoo-hoo!" she shouts, "How can I get to the other side?" 

The second blonde looks up the river then down the river and shouts back, "You ARE on the other side." 

AT THE DOCTOR’S OFFICE
A gorgeous young redhead goes into the doctor’s office and said that her body hurt wherever she touched it. 

"Impossible!" says the doctor. "Show me." 

The redhead took her finger, pushed on her left shoulder and screamed, then she pushed her elbow and screamed even more. She pushed her knee and screamed; likewise she pushed her ankle and screamed. Everywhere she touched made her scream. 

The doctor said, "You’re not really a redhead, are you? 

"Well, no" she said, "I’m actually a blonde." 

"I thought so," the doctor said. "Your finger is broken." 

KNITTING
A highway patrolman pulled alongside a speeding car on the freeway. Glancing at the car, he was astounded to see that the blonde behind the wheel was knitting! 

Realizing that she was oblivious to his flashing lights and siren, the trooper cranked down his window, turned on his bullhorn and yelled, "PULL OVER!" 

"NO!" the blonde yelled back, "IT’S A SCARF!" 

BLONDE ON THE SUN 
A Russian, an American, and a Blonde were talking one day. The Russian said, "We were the first in space!" 

The American said, "We were the first on the moon!"  

The Blonde said, "So what? We’re going to be the first on the sun!" 

The Russian and the American looked at each other and shook their heads.  "You can’t land on the sun, you idiot! You’ll burn up!" said the Russian.

To which the Blonde replied, "We’re not stupid, you know. We’re going at night!" 

IN A VACUUM 
A blonde was playing Trivial Pursuit one night. It was her turn. She rolled the dice and she landed on Science & Nature. Her question was, "If you are in a vacuum and someone calls your name, can you hear it?" 

She thought for a time and then asked, "Is it on or off?" 

FINALLY, THE BLONDE JOKE TO END ALL BLONDE JOKES! 
A girl was visiting her blonde friend, who had acquired two new dogs, and asked her what their names were. The blonde responded by saying that one was named Rolex and one was named Timex.  Her friend said, "Whoever heard of someone naming dogs like that?" 

"HELLLOOOOOOO……," answered the blond….  "They’re watch dogs!"

Because this is my third trip to Cuba (twice before for business, my first time at a resort), I may be a bit biased, but I have read some poor reviews for the Arenas Blancas resort, and I must say, these people need to get some proper perspective.

The hotel is nice, relatively new, and clean. The location is great, not far from downtown shopping areas in Varadero, and it is a short trip past the pool onto a beautiful beach. The rooms are clean, and this resort also does not charge a surcharge for single occupancy, so you can get this price even if you are traveling alone.

The facilities are good. The excursions are well-organized and fairly well scheduled (for Cuba… North Americans are notorious tightwads about schedules and timing). Cuba doesn’t work the way Canada does, so you can either make yourself miserable complaining that nothing occurs on time, or you can just relax. Don’t forget Toto, you are not in Kansas anymore, so stop being a pain in the butt about time and schedules!!!

For the price, I would recommend this resort. My trip was $840 CDN, all taxes included, flying from my hometown of Saint John, NB, via SunWing. This is for an all-inclusive stay, including food and drinks. Add $250 – $300 CDN for excursions and tips, and you can have a great winter getaway vacation for less than $1200 CDN/person. How can anyone seriously complain about that??? If you want the Ritz, pay for the Ritz and go somewhere else. I can’t go to Halifax for a week for this kind of money, and the beaches around Halifax this time of year are not very appealing!

Cuba

Remember that this country has been under a brutal economic embargo by the US government for many years, so their ability to obtain some of the things you may find commonplace in your everyday life is made more difficult. Plus, they rely much more heavily on public transportation and the generosity of friends for travel every day.

The money for tourists is Cuban Convertible pesos (CUC). These exchanged the week I stayed for about $1.14 Canadian. In contrast, the locals use Cuban pesos, which trade at a rate of about 24 pesos per 1 CUC, but tourists are not permitted to spend Cuban pesos. Don’t bring US dollars, there is a 10% tariff on US money in Cuba.

Many things are priced very well in Cuba. If your fascination is with the usual sins, bottles of rum (“ron” in Spanish) and boxes of cigars can be had very inexpensively. Rum sells for between $3 CUC and $30 CUC per bottle, depending on the quality and age. The average Havana Club (tourist brand) rum will run you ~$5 CUC/bottle in the stores (tiendas) and a few dollars more at the hotels. I don’t smoke, so none of them interested me, but  cigars range from several cigars per $1CUC to as much as $15 CUC/cigar for the big Montecristos. If you don’t really care about the glitz and glamour of a pretty box, almost everyone working at the resort has a “friend” who can get you black market cigars for much less. My last trip, a Cuban friend from the University I was working with helped me pick up 50 hand-made Cuban cigars for a colleague at work for ~$5 CUC.

The tour guides say that baseball is the number 1 sport in Cuba is baseball, followed very closely by hitch-hiking (their primary form of travel). I would add that haggling is probably a close third. Most prices you see listed are subject to “negotiation” (though not in official tiendas and hotel shops). While you can easily drop 20-25% from a price in a market (and I recommend you do this), unless it is a major purchase, haggling any further means you are really just beating someone up over bits of money you don’t need but could mean a world of difference to the vendor. My time is worth more than haggling for a few pesos.

Language

The official language of Cuba is Spanish, although there are many multi-lingual people, and English is, of course, a popular language as well. In Varadero, language was not an issue. If you are willing to learn a little Spanish, they know enough English and/or French to get you through any issues you may encounter.

If you can order a beer (cervesa) or a mixed drink (pina colada, mohito, cuba libre, ron punch), can ask “How Much” (cuanto cuesta?), can figure out the 10 basic numbers (uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, seis, siete, ocho, nueve, diez), can say “Yes” (si) and “No” (no), ask where the washrooms are (banos?) and be nice (Gracias!), you will do fine!

Beach

The beach, as noted above, was just a short walk past the pool, through some palm trees. It offered nice, soft sands and beautiful water for swimming. The beach had volleyball nets, kayaks, paddle boats, and a mini-Catamaran, all available for resort guests to use. There were also plenty of sun chairs for lounging around, and a beach bar nearby offered a large range of drinks and food all day long.

Pool

The pool is excellent, clean, probably one of the the nicest pools in Varadero. It is an interesting design, with various areas for different types of entertainment/water sports, and a children’s area. The water is chilly, which is just what the doctor ordered for those hot afternoon tanning sessions when you are at the pool because you are tired of picking sand from body cavities. Has a decent pool bar that is right next to the pool (no swim-up bar, but that’s not a big deal). Would maybe have liked a deep section (I think the deepest is about 4′), but again, it is for cooling off and playing, not doing laps.

Entertainment

During the day are many excursions, and at the resort were daily children’s activities like learning to dance, etc. Early every night was a show for kids. Kids would be ushered onstage, costumed, and allowed to put on a show for the audience, which I am sure the family-oriented travelers would love.

Later in the evening is live entertainment, sometimes game shows, sometimes live music, and several nights, the Arenas Blancas hotel dance troupe performs various original shows. The dance troupe is very good, professional, and entertaining, so if you want to stay on the resort instead of heading downtown to Calle 62 (a local night spot) or somewhere else for entertainment, I recommend checking them out a few nights.

Opening from 11 PM – 2 AM was an on-site “disco bar”. I think it was in a poorly marked location, but it was always at least half-full when we were there. One thing to note, the bartender in the disco bar makes the best drinks in the resort, worth visiting for that if nothing else!

Excursions

All excursions can be booked through your respective travel representative in the lobby of the hotel. They will take payments (even from credit cards, as long as they are not drawn from US Banks), and make all the arrangements for you. The day of your excursion, a bus picks you up at the main door to your resort, takes you with people from other resorts to the excursion site, and then picks you up and returns you at the end of the day.

Some excursions that are possible include the Catamaran trip, a Jeep Safari, SCUBA diving, fishing, various types of trips to Havana, jet skis, boat tours, etc. These range in price from $50 CUC for jet skis to $135 CUC for the full Havana package with dinner and tickets to see the Tropicana show.

Our group enjoyed several excursions, including the Catamaran day trip, the Jeep Safari, and I did some SCUBA diving at Playa El Coral, a marine park between Varadero and Matanzas, a nearby city. The Catamaran and Jeep Safari were great, as was the SCUBA diving. To save on space, I will likely post individual info for those, with pictures, at a future time.

Staff

OK, this resort does fall down a bit when it comes to friendliness of staff. While there were quite a few shining stars working at this resort, and most of the staff were very friendly if you took the time to get to know them; however, some were just downright grumpy.

Food

While much maligned by the self-appointed food connoisseurs who have posted online, I found the food to be fine. At every meal, if you went relatively early to the buffet, there were plenty of good options. If you wait until hundreds of others have been through, you get the leftovers. Plus, Cuba sometimes has food shortages and/or delivery problems, so you may not always get everything offered each day. Live with it.

The a la carte restaurants were very good. The Italian was probably the weakest, but the authentic Cuban was very good, and the International (near the beach) was fabulous and would rival many higher-end Canadian restaurants for food quality.

As for the types of foods, remember that this resort does not only cater to Canadians, it also caters to South Americans, Europeans, Asians, and the odd Aussie as well. The ketchup is not Heinz, there is no relish for the hotdogs, and their pepper is different. Milk is not a daily staple as a regular drink in Cuban life. Not all of the world eats the types of food we like here in Canada. We just need to get over it, pull our heads out of our butts, and be ready to try new things. This is Cuba, not Toronto. If you want your Filet Mignon steak every night, go to one of the nearby local Cuban restaurants and pay for that, or some fresh lobster for between $10 – $20 CUC.

Final Words of Advice

Rooms are all wired 220 Volts, so either bring a converter to charge up your cameras and iPods, or you can drop them off at the front desk and they will charge them for you.

Bring a stainless steel travel mug for your drinks. The bartenders will fill these up for you whenever you like. Plastic travel mugs will do, but the stainless steel ones hold up better, are cheap enough (Wally World and Zellers-type stores sell them for about $10 CDN), and they can be traded with Cubans in the markets and stores for trinkets so you don’t even have to bring them home with you. If you don’t bring a mug, the small plastic cups they have at the bars that you must use if near the pool or on the beach do nothing to keep a drink cold in the sun and also force you to make many more trips to the bar to stay “hydrated”…

Anyone who has traveled to Cuba knows that toilet seats and toilet paper are a rare commodity in public places. The rooms had seats and were always stocked with toilet paper. The public washrooms in the resort were generally the same, although some didn’t have toilet seats and most experienced toilet paper shortages at one point or another. Drying towels for hands after washing were pretty much non-existent. Bring hand sanitizer!

Don’t forget to save $25 CUC for the airport departure tax, the Cuban government’s last parting shot at you and your hard currency before leaving the country. While airport taxes are not unusual, particularly in non-Western worlds, they tend to be included in flight costs, but not here.

One word of advice about SunWing, this charter is very picky about their baggage limits. Each passenger is permitted 2 bags, with a combined weight of a maximum of 25 kg (~55 lbs), and that includes your carry-on luggage! If you have clothes, camera gear, and SCUBA gear (like me!), you are pushing the envelope on weight. If you are at all worried, it may be worth the extra $40 to upgrade to Elite status. This gives you an additional 10 kg of weight, not to mention supposedly giving you more foot room in your chair, although the plane I flew on had no first/business class areas. The penalty for being over the 25 kg limit is the closest thing to legalized theft I have ever seen – $20 CDN/kg overweight fees. Again, you get what you pay for, and SunWing is a discount charter line.