Miscellaneous

Kentucky Chicken just lost a customer

I admit it. I’ve got a weakness for Kentucky Fried Chicken. Calories, cholesterol, and unknown secret ingredients included. Whatever.

But tonight I’m no longer a customer, and I’ll tell you why.

For the last couple of years “4 pieces of chicken, original, with fries, to go” has been a regular order for me. While I often had to repeat at least part of my order, and then turn down salad, desert, and extra chicken, it seemed to work very well. I’d go in once every couple of weeks or so and enjoy two pieces and fries for one night’s dinner, a piece each for the next two nights with salad.

For a long time the price was about $6.94, and that was acceptable to me. A couple of weeks ago, I noticed it had gone up to about 7.50. I thought for a minute, but paid it. After all, prices go up with wages and taxes, etc. Fine.

Well, tonight I went in and made my order. It came to $8.40. Huh? I mentioned the price increase, and the young lady at the till turned around to another young lady in the kitchen who dutifully explained that they were now restricted to selling ‘packages’ of items, and couldn’t sell them separately. That meant that I could pay for four pieces of chicken, a salad (that I didn’t want), fries, and a pop (which I didn’t want), or walk.

I walked.

Sorry Colonel Saunders. Don’t try to supersize me. I can get a whole barbequed chicken at Safeway for less than $9.00. That would last me most of the week.

You’d think that these days, with all the individualized and mashed up services being offered, companies would have learned that their customers are sick of the on-size-fits-all approach to their products. But I guess not.

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Epi Awards – just great

My sister got us tickets to the Epi Awards ceremony, held at the Pacific Cinémathèque in Vancouver today. We went there to celebrate her son and his friend who were selected as finalists. They also got nominated in the Best Message category for their work on the short film, “That night at pizza shaq”.

It was all part of a contest put on by the BC Epilepsy Society for young video makers over the last year or so. The idea was to come up with a short video to capture the spirit of a new look at epilepsy in society. I understand some of the winning videos will be posted on the society’s website soon.

All the entries showed incredible creativity and technical know-how, and, as film maker Velcro Ripper (one of the speakers) said, they’ve become agents of change. Lending their art and craft to making a difference in the world.

Who says that ‘youth’ are a problem. Seems to me that many are more of a solution?

It was a somewhat serious topic, but the emcee, David C. Jones, had everyone in stitches for most of the show. What an excellent job he did. I tried to find a link to him, but both I tried were dead right now. Come back David!

The improve troupe “Improvisors” presented a 3 act improv over the space of the agenda. What a laugh. That was really the first improv I’ve seen. Now I want more.

There was also a short film called ‘The story of a man, a dream, and a whole lotta kites’, by Matthew Nie. Wow, what a film. Hard to put into words, so find it and see it. Really inspiring.

There was also a young lady from waaaay up north, that gave an inspriational talk on living with epilepsy – she still makes films, hikes, camps, paddles rafts, fishes, skidoos, and has a real connection to her community. Wow.

Overall, a great way to fill a Sunday afternoon. Thanks folks.

Tags: Epi awards, film

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Back in the saddle

Ok, at the risk of stating the obvious, I have to mention that I haven’t been posting much.

Well, it’s been busy. What else can I say.

Here’s a glimpse of the calendar for October (in no particular order):

Joined the board of a group that acts as steward of a local park (Green Timbers Park – sorry, the link web page is down)
Finished off three courses in the SFU Writing and Publishing Program (just have to write two exams)
Volunteered to act as the lead for Contractor’s group for the STC and attended my predecessor’s last meeting
Spent a weekend at the Surrey International Writer’s Conference
Purged of a lot of stuff at home
Attended 3 Toastmasters meetings, and helped steal the flag from another Toastmasters club (then they stole it back 😉
Went over to Victoria for Thanksgiving to visit my sister and her family
Attended a Chamber of Commerce breakfast meeting on goal setting
Chipped my tooth and got it fixed
Reviewed a draft website for a colleague
Attended the SOHO small business expo

I know, everyone’s busy. But, this month has been busier than usual for me. Guess I’d better get use to it.

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Give me back my CBC

Most of the time I’m up early, but there are times when I’ll set a radio alarm just to make sure I’m out of bed at a particular time. My radio is set for CBC FM, and I’m usually greeted with gentle classical music that pulls me out of my sleep. A minute to enjoy the music, a long stretch, and I’m off and running for the day.

It’s been that way for a couple of years now, but today was a shocker. At 05:45, my lovely symphony turned into a marching band and brought me to attention immediately. I couldn’t wait to shut the thing off. Nothing in particular against marching music, but at that time in the morning? AACCKK.

Please give back my CBC. Whoever is running the show right now has no sense of timing.

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Tossing it out

Over the course of a long career in biology and management, I’ve collected a lot of reference material. Now, with a change of focus, I’ve started collecting a lot of different stuff on communication. The problem is that I don’t live in an infinite space to keep it all, and I’m definitely feeling the pinch.

The file cabinets are bulging, the bookcases are overflowing, the floors are starting to get covered with boxes of “I’ll need that someday”, and I’m feeling a real space crunch. Earlier in the week I decided to take the bull by the horns and start purging. The results have been mixed, and filled with emotion, but I’m determined to pare things down over the next few days.

Wouldn’t you know it. Today I’m reading through some favorite blogs, and I come across a post in 43folders pointing to Metagirrl talking about ‘discardia’. Metagirrl provides the definition as: “Discardia is celebrated by getting rid of stuff and ideas you no longer need.” There is also a call for a national holiday, sometime around the equinox or solstice.

The author starts out with:

“I’ve been practicing discardia for several years now and am now reaping significant benefits. My home is light, airy, uncluttered and comforting. Waking in it or returning after being away gives me an immediate sense of my load being lightened….”

Clearly there are ‘evergreen’ subjects in life. Sooner or later everyone has to lighten the load. I guess the trick is to keep on top of it, rather than passively let it build up through lack of attention.

Ha, the wonderful world of blogs. Tomorrow another box….

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Cleaning off your desk.

Cleaning off your desk every once in a while is a good thing. Little bits and pieces of leftover projects, or just things you might use (or have to reach for once in a while) do tend to build up on the real estate.

I tend to collect pieces of paper where I’ve made short notes about something. Of course, those things “can’t” be done right away, so they come back to bite me from the side of my desk. Frequently. You’d think I’d learn.

I think I’ll try this tip from Signal vs. Noise (clips mine):

“Toss everything, and I mean everything on your desk in a box. If it doesn’t fit in a box, put it on the floor. Your desk should be completely cleared of everything …..clip.

Next, get to work. Only remove something from the box (or the floor) when you absolutely need it. Not before….clip… If you don’t need a pen now, don’t get the pen. Only place it on your desk when you need it.

Throw out the remaining items in the box in 30 days …clip.”

I’ve done this before, but recidivism is common. I really need to clean up at the end of each session, before moving on.