Archive for April, 2008

This is what I was doing one year ago. I’d like to do it again. A lot.

The best part of you plotting Stanley Cup domination is that we won’t have to hear from our muddling owner, Francesco Aquilini. If you do your job, the man who sounds like a Grade 3 student struggling to read aloud in class will stay on the sidelines.

The next time I want to hear from Frank is when he’s hoarse at a post Stanley Cup press conference.

Thank you.

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I am going to Calgary to visit a great friend for a boy’s weekend of ‘fishing.’

It’s going to be a blast. I can’t wait.

BUT .. I have a problem. Well, not really a problem, more like a decision, and I’m having difficulty weighing the pros and cons of each side.

I can either pay for the flight, or cash in some Aeroplan points.

OPTION 1: WestJet for $300

OPTION 2: AirCanada for 15 000 points and $100 in fees

Soooo .. is $200 a good value for 15 000 points? I just can’t seem to decide.

What would Jesus do?

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DONATED: $1 180
GOAL: $10 000
REMAINING: $8 820

I have committed to donating all my freelance income to the Team Diabetes Easter Island effort. So far that includes a voice over session ($1000 payment pending), an iTunes endorsement ($600) and any monies I make from this website.

See those little links on the right hand side? The ones that say “Links for a Cause”? Those are TextLink Ads and I’ve been running them for a couple months, enough to get a little bit of a cheque.

Toss $44.76 into the Team Diabetes coffers. Actually, I’ll round it up to $50 to keep the accounting easy.

Are you trying to find a way to scratch up some money to donate? Why not serve up some of your site’s traffic money to the cause? Or maybe break off a piece of your tax refund?

Or, you could just hire me to do your media work. You’ll get a professional product, a mention on the blog and a tax receipt for supporting Team Diabetes.

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Ahhh … American politics. You gotta love it. It’s all about the issues. You know issues like the atrocious economy. Issues like the war. Issues like the housing crisis. Issues like … wrestling?

Nice. Okay, it’s cute and funny, but is it really presidential to do schtick like this? Wait, maybe it is.. George W Bush was on Deal or No Deal last night.

If you want someone to blame for this whole mess where candidates attempt to look human instead of talking point repeating robots, look no further than Bill Clinton.

The night he played sax in front of Arsenio Hall’s dog pound was the night issue oriented politicking in America died.

But don’t take my word for it… check out this piece in the New York Times.

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You are about to be hammered by the eco friendly message today. It’s all about composting and recycling and using less in the news as Earth Day is marked around the world.

Many people take the environment seriously, and go HARDCORE when it comes to their actions. Rain barrels to collect rainwater to use for irrigation, composting to turn table scraps into fertilizer.. stuff like that. They’re on my radar to get done, but require some planning and hardware and I’m not quite there yet.

I’m taking small simple steps to help Mother Earth.

I already use cloth bags when I do my groceries, that’s a good change that was simple to make. I bring my own mug to the coffee joints when I sit and linger with a paper on the weekends and now I turn off my computer at night. I’ll be bringing my mug to Starbucks today as they serve up free coffee for Earth Day when you bring your mug.

I didnt normally do that. I would leave the box humming all day and night, just in case I got a brilliant blog idea in the middle of the night.

But by simply turning off or unplugging the computer at night you can save energy. Lots of it.

An average desktop computer with a 17-inch monitor needs between 150 and 350 watts of electricity while it is being activity used. If you were to leave that computer on 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, it would use over $200 of electricity and lead to the release of over 1.5 tons of CO2 into Earth’s atmosphere. Turning off your computer — even an inactive computer — for just 10 hours a day can lead to substantial carbon savings. [source]

By unplugging your PC each night, you will reduce your CO2 emissions by a total of 51 lbs. for the month. [source]

Notice the key part of the second quote. It says “unplugging” your computer - not just turning it off.

Did you know that many of your household electronics and appliances use electricity even when they are turned off? This is known as standby or “phantom” power. For instance, your television uses standby power so that it can be ready to instantly turn on when you click the remote control. Your computer’s printer powers down, but isn’t really off unless you turn off its power switch or unplug it. Anything you own that has a transformer plugged into a socket is probably drawing electricity all the time, even when the gadget it’s connected to is not in use. Skeptical? Touch the transformer. If it is warm to the touch, then it’s wasting electricity. [source]

That shouldn’t be too tough either, especially if you have a tangle of power bars and wires under your desk. You don’t need to unplug them all, just the one that goes to the wall.

Oh, and while you’re saving energy by turning off your computer at night, turn off the tv too. It’s Turn Off Your TV Week - so, um.. don’t forget to set the TiVo/PVR/VCR.

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Okay, back from shovelling the driveway, here’s what’s on the radio today:

- You were in the Sun Run yesterday along with 59 000 other crazy runners? Good job! Here’s your next assigment. The BMO Pacific Spirit Run on May 10 in the 95Crave Running Series

- I took off to search for spring in the States and had a brilliant time at the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival

- If you’re still all about the winter, there will be no sunning up on Cypress Beach. Despite getting dumped with snow, Cypress is closed? Yeah .. so .. um .. why not hike up on your own?

- Have you been turning over every plastic bottle looking for recycle numbers? If you find recycle #7 on the bottom, take ‘em back to London Drugs.

- This kinda sums up GW’s presidency. Tonight, while the economy gets flushed, and the “surge” struggles in Iraq and Afghanistan, he’s guesting on Deal or No Deal.

- David Cook hasn’t won American Idol - yet, but he’s already a download star on Amazon. Meanwhile, current Idol Jordin Sparks, is battling some serious vocal issues.

- Earth Day is tomorrow. Want to have some fun to see how hard you should be celebrating? Why not calculate your carbon footprint.

- Who wants to dress like Oprah? She’s auctioning off her wardrobe for charity.

- According to Perezzers, Madonna’s new album, Hard Candy, has been leaked on the internets 8 days before release.

- Justin Timberlake and John Mayer were among the supporters present at a memorial service for the father of Cameron Diaz.

- The Canucks may be out of the playoffs, but the going gets good tonight with Game 7 for the Canadiens-Bruins series.

- Want to practice for a summer with gas near $1.50/l? Go to Saltspring Island. It’s already $1.41 there.

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The family went looking for spring yesterday. Sick of the snow, we packed up and headed south like any good Canadian bird would do.

We stopped at Burlington and to have some snacks at Krispy Kreme.

Z didn’t actually eat any Krispy Kreme donuts in that photoshoot. It was all cleverly staged. We’re rookie parents, but not crazy! Jen was just out of the lens with a bucket of baby wipes to soak him down!

Then we went out into the flats between LaConner and Mount Vernon - the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival was in full bloom, and if you can make it down within the next week or so, this is a little bit of what you should see.

This is my favourite picture of the day (that didnt include family).

Y’know, sometimes it takes courage to be unique.

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It’s tax season. I know. I just got a letter from Revenue Canada asking for my 2006 return. And while I’m at it, could I give them 2004, 2005 and 2007?

Yeah, I’m lazy. But I don’t think you are. You do it every year. You save every receipt and you get a big fat refund every spring.

I’ve been rolling around in my head different ways for you to pitch in and help out with Team Diabetes without really asking you to dig deep into your pockets.

Then I saw a posting by Airdrie on the weekend. She got her tax refund and immediately broke off a piece for the Balding For Dollars campaign.

While I know I should put all the money into my credit card debt, I decided to donate part of it to the Children’s Hospital ‘Balding for Dollars‘ fund-raiser, taking place next week. A team of teachers and students at my school are shaving their heads on Wednesday as part of a Province-wide event to raise money for children with cancer and blood disorders. [source]

Brilliant.

It was free money to Airdrie, it’s now free money for the charity and Airdrie gets a tax receipt to get a head start on next year’s return.

That’s what I call paying it forward.

So now comes my turn to ask.. you’re going to get your refund soon, if you haven’t gotten it already. When you do, break off a piece for Team Diabetes. My personal goal is to raise $10 000 and you (and the Finance Minister) can be a part of it.

Please?

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Sick of the snow, we went south today, looking for some spring at the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival.

And look what we found!

A full photo blog of beauty coming tomorrow.

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Wow. Talk about good will.

London Drugs is taking back ALL bottles made with BPA. No.questions.asked. You get a gift card in amount of the FULL retail price.

A pal of mine told me about the program and Jen had heard about it too. She took ALL of our Avent bottles back, the nipples, the soothers, the microwave sterilizer. ALL OF IT. In the end, Jen walked out with a $200 store credit.

The guy at the Customer Service counter was apologizing to Jen for them having sold the stuff in the first place.

“London Drugs has been educating customers about the dangers of BPA since
January,” said Wynne Powell, president of London Drugs. “When we learned of
the possible risks from BPA, we immediately started purchasing BPA-free
products and providing customers with information to help them make an
informed choice when purchasing products like plastic baby bottles and sippy
cups. As concern continued to mount around BPA earlier this week, we
immediately removed all baby bottles, sippy cups, pacifiers, and select food
containers and water bottles containing BPA from our store shelves. Our
customer service specialists in our stores and at our head office in Richmond
are available to answer our customers’ questions and provide information on
these BPA alternatives.” [source]

We didnt buy our bottles from London Drugs, they were given as gifts at showers etc, but LD took them back.

They’ll also take back your stanky Nalgene bottles too.

Amazing. Congratulations. Way to go.

BTW, London Drugs sells BornFree, a brand of plastic bottles made WITHOUT BPA. We switched Z over to them this week and he has had no issues with the new nipples etc. Guess what we’re getting with our $200 gift card from London Drugs??

Thank you London Drugs. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

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