For better or worse... meaning for better or Movember!

As most of you are probably aware, Movember is in full swing.  I can't say I'm a fan of the creepy mustache my husband is sporting these days... but nonetheless I know its for a good cause which is why I agreed to promote the month on the blog, using PC's face!

It's hard to keep a straight face when I see him... and I think I have resorted to saying 'I love you' with a smirk! All I know is that we have 8 days left to raise some money for a very important cause, prostate cancer - and with your help we can make a difference!

If you'd like to support PC, you can make a donation by visiting his page at: http://ca.movember.com/mospace/1275782/

Or perhaps you know of others in your community looking equally as creepy - you can search their names from the Movember homepage, and see what they look like and how they are doing!

Thanks in advance for your support!

Let me just say I can't wait for December 1st! 

Is it wrong to wish for a divorce?

Easy folks, I am not talking about my own marriage... I definitely NEVER want to get a divorce, especially not to PC - I love him way too much (feel free to take a moment if your choking on a bit of puke!).

But ... I am in love with a house that was built about 2 years ago, and slowly the owners have been doing some landscaping, painting, adding on a deck, paving the driveway... all the little extras that a house needs. The design of the house from the outside is beautiful, and its on a big lot... and is surrounded by a nice tree line, yet still within town limits, and accessible to everything.

Last night, coming home, I managed to sneak a peek inside the house, as the curtains were open and the house was well lit up. Turns out, the inside looks tastefully decorated, and appears to be just as nice as the outside. This little observation makes me want the house even more now.

However, my thinking is... who (in their right mind) would put up for sale (at a decent price) a perfectly good home, that they have obviously worked hard to get it to their liking? No one... unless of course, the owners were getting a ... DIVORCE!

What an awful thing to wish upon someone - really - I know. You are reading this, thinking - has she no shame, and frankly, I question that about myself all. the. time. I guess this couple (who I don't know or have never seen before), they don't deserve the wish of divorce... perhaps I should change my thinking just a bit - and hope that either of them gets a bigger better job that requires them to move somewhere else, or that they will win the CHEO Dream of Lifetime Lottery and move into it, leaving their house perfectly purchase-able (if that's a word) for PC and I.

I will try to scope out a pic of the place I am talking about on my BB tonight on my way home... and then perhaps if any of my local readers know the house or the owners, you can have a hand in saving their marriage, and moving the couple safely to a new address, with their marriage intact!

Do any of you have your eye on a home or property in your 'hood.... that you are secretly wishing something 'interesting' happens with the owners so that you get the chance to buy it?

*** Edited to add ***

This is the best I could do with a drive by photo. You get the idea!

Is this your nursery?

Last week... I put E down for a nap in the afternoon and I took the monitor downstairs with me. As I was cleaning up the kitchen I noticed some static on the monitor so I hit the video button on it to see what he was doing.

To my surprise, there was a two second flash of some other nursery. I knew this because E has a white crib, and this crib was clearly dark wood... and we have our camera so that you can see a close up of his face... and this nursery had more of full crib view.

I was totally creeped out. When I hit the button again, it was E, sleeping peacefully. I thought to myself that maybe that is was a pre-loaded standard nursery picture that comes on the monitor when you buy it, but since we've had our monitor for 9 months, and I had never seen this picture before I didn't stick with that story long. I tried to put it out of my mind but then it happened again.

We have a colour monitor and this time I noticed bright green nursery walls, and a white mobile hanging over the crib. The crib mattress is much lower than E's... so I said to myself, it has to be a baby that is older than him, as his mattress is still on the highest level.

I started fooling around with the channels on the monitor, but there are only two and when I switched the monitor to the other channel, I got a clearer view of this nursery. I committed myself to not going back to that channel... and thought this would be the end of it.

But the other night, I got up in the middle of the night to pee, and when I was getting back into bed, I noticed the lights on the monitor meaning E was either up or making some noise of some sort. In my sleepiness I went to turn the volume up and hit the wrong button ... which is when I saw a BABY in the other nursery rolling around and making some NOISE!

I immediately snapped out of it and woke right up, as I wanted to see if I recognized this baby as one of my neighbours... and then I could easily talk to them and try to figure out if we could get this channel situation figured out - but of course I didn't (not that I got a very good look at this baby's face), so now I have this view into some random nursery that could be in our neighbourhood, or could be some freaky sci-fi or Will Smith Enemy of the State movie in the making.

I have these fears that I am going to see this nursery and see this baby either trying to climb out of the crib or doing something really dangerous ... it will unfold right in front of me and I will be helpless as I won't know whose damn baby it is, and where the heck to send my 911 call for help.

A bit extreme? Perhaps... but the even creepier part for me is that, if I can see into this nursery, does this mean the video monitor owners on the other end have seen E from their side?

Ahhhhhhhh!
The video monitor might just have to go, if that's the case!

Is half-decent service really too much to ask for?

Brace yourself, I am about to go on a rant about a topic that has been bugging me for quite a while: young teens working in the customer service industry.

On three separate recent occasions, I have walked out of a store (in Embrun) shaking my head at the young teen working there, because of their inability to use common sense when serving myself and a long line of others!

A few weeks ago I decided to get a coffee at Tim Horton's after getting my groceries. I drove over to Timmy's only to see that the drive-thru line up was out to the road, so I figured I would have better luck getting served inside the Timmy's.

Now, a year or so ago you may recall my royal disgust for the Timmy's in Embrun... as it was slow moving no matter what time you rolled in there, but in the last 6 months I have noticed a huge improvement in customer service/satisfaction in the morning rush hour. This observation gave me new found respect for the Embrun Timmy's... as I felt they got their act together!

However... on this particular visit, it seemed they were back to their old shenanigans of brutally slow service. And no wonder why... !

When I got inside I was the 4th customer in line... and there was one teenaged girl working the cash. She was helping a couple of guys get their orders, which were sandwich combos and ice capps. In my opinion her job should be to take the order, get their drinks, and then turn over the sandwich making to the employee on the sandwich bar. This seemed to be what she wanted to do, but it took her a good 5-7 minutes to get their drinks ready, and then another 2 to ensure the sandwiches were going to be made by someone else. Just when she could take another customer at her cash, an employee emerges from the back room.

I am thinking, this employee is coming out to help in what is clearly the 4 o'clock rush, but NO, she is actually on her way home. The original girl on cash seems surprised by her exit, and proceeds to step away from the cash... and strike up a 3 minute conversation with her about why she is leaving. This happens off to the side of the cash, in front myself and 3 other customers ahead of me. So now... while these two lovely teenagers have their discussion, no one is working the cash, which means no one is getting served - NOTHING IS HAPPENING.

Finally, the drive-thru head-honcho (who I would put in her 20s), comes around the corner for a donut and sees this all transacting. She proceeds to promptly notify the cash girl that she must get back to workimmediately. Clearly unhappy about it, she steps back to her cash to finally take the next customer. Another employee emerges from the back room and looks shocked to see how long the line up is - he's jumps on the second cash, and finally after 15 minutes of waiting, I am served.

I leave Timmy's shaking my head, thinking that at 15 or 16 I know I was not THAT stupid, and would have never left the cash to talk to a friend while the line up was out the door.

I thought this may have been a one time deal, but earlier this week while PC and I were at Subway, we had the same type of experience. We arrive at Subway... and are their only customers, a girl greets us and asks up what we want, I order and PC is about to order when a second girl from the back comes out and the first girl stops PC in mid-sentence to tell the second girl 'Oh My God, I totally dropped a sub this afternoon on the floor, it was soooooo hot, I just drop it, totally - right there, and the guy was like starring at me, but I was like I am sorry dude, it was too freakin hot'. Then she looks back up at PC, and says 'Sorry about that, totally off topic, what did you want?' - Totally off topic? - thanks tips, we couldn't figure that one out for ourselves.

By the time we get our subs, a line-up has formed out the door... PC and I sit down and eat only to observe these two girls and one guy serve these 8 customers. You would think their priority would be take an order, make a sub, obtain payment - REPEAT. But no... all I can hear is them talking about so and so's boyfriend who cheated on her and then got beat up at a party - and god knows what else. The tables are mess ... food on all of them, and a garbage overflowing to boot.

One of the employees leaves the line up to go to the bathroom, and has to step over the overflowing trash to get into the washroom. I am thinking when she emerges she will empty the trash and mop up the spilt pop besides it, but NO, she comes out the washrooms, looks at the trash and is as disgusted as we are. She shakes her head and goes into the back room never to emerge again.

HELLO? Clean it up, or at least notify someone who's job it is to clean it up that it is has to be done. Once the line-up is cleared, the other two employees take a seat and chat away, while the restaurant remains dirty. I leave in disgust - AGAIN!

Today... at the grocery store, I wanted to ring the teenaged girl's neck who was working the cash. First of all she couldn't be bothered to be at work, and as she starts ringing through my items she puts them in a plastic bag. I say to her that I have reusable bags (which were the first thing I put on the counter), and she looks at me like I have 4 heads. Then as she rings the rest of the items through, she puts 3 things in each bag as if I have 30 reusable bags with me. Then she asks me if I want the rest in plastic, to which I reply 'No, I think we can fit everything in these 4 bags'. By the look on her face you would think I had just asked her to pee in a cup and drink it. As she packs everything into the four bags, she has bread on the bottom, apple juice on top of the bread, some bananas, and then a pound of ground beef to top it off.

Last time I checked packing groceries isn't rocket science, but apparently it's a skill that some teenagers just can't grasp. Again, I leave the store shaking my head.

There is no way, NO WAY I was that incompetent when I was that age. I understand that these jobs are just that - part-time jobs, not careers. They are doing it for one purpose, the cash, and only the cash. But how hard is it to use your brain in these jobs. I am not asking for over the top service, I am just asking for a little common sense when it comes to customer service. You don't need to talk to me or compliment me or anything out of the ordinary, you just have to use a few brain cells and do the job you were hired to do.

I am not saying all teenagers are like this, as I have had perfectly decent service from some of these teenagers, but it seems to be a growing trend lately, that these Generation Y peeps just don't care, and aren't about to start to anytime soon.

Has anyone else noticed that this generation of teenagers approaches life a bit different that the last?

There are no accidents.

Honestly... how many more times do I have to see the WSIB ad where the young aspiring chef slips on grease and spills a pot of boiling water on her face.

I get the message loud and clear - there are no accidents.

I get it, I've been to their interactive web site www.prevent-it.ca - I've read up on it.

I. Get. It.

In the last hour I have seen the same commercial 3 times. It doesn't get any easier to watch or listen to the third time in. I have heard through the grapevine, WSIB had to tone down the screams in the editing of the chef accident ad because they were too 'upsetting'.

I think the campaign achieves its goals - if the goals include: raising awareness about workplace safety and the extreme accidents that can happen due to unsafe working environments; the idea that every individual, every worker, management included, needs to take responsibility for the safety of their workplace.

I know the campaign is getting mixed reviews, but from a communication's standpoint, I think the campaign is a success. As much as the ad bugs me, it gets to me, and that is what social marketing is all about.

What do you think, have you seen the ads... do you like/dislike them?

Drugs anyone?

Today, while strolling leisurely under a shaded underpass of the city (near Rideau and Sussex), I saw a drug deal go down, complete from the initial recognition of the buyer to the seller, the eye contact, the exchange of money for drugs, and then the cautious look around by the buyer to see if anyone (like the cops) saw the transaction.

This all happened in under 30 seconds, leaving two satisfied parties. There was not a cop insight, but there was one pissed off citizen.... ya, that's right, it was ME.

Honestly... I don't have to much to say about street bums, punks, and gangs. Mainly I like to mind my own business while walking the streets of Ottawa, as you just never know who is willing to do what in this day and age.

In downtown Ottawa, you are likely to see various types of people. You have the Hill peeps, bopping around in three piece suits, right down to the edgy youth groups, just dying for someone to give them a dirty look so they can yell some obscenities at you.

While I am out on my coffee break, I usually like to give a friendly smile to those who are deserving, whether it be a street bum or an MP, but what I don't appreciate is watching some young punk work the streets of Ottawa, dealing drugs in BROAD DAYLIGHT.

I mean, seriously. Take it somewhere else, somewhere else where I don't have to see the transaction, where there isn't a high traffic area, and where I don't have to wonder why our city police can't be around to monitor these individuals.

I know this whole street drugs topic has been widely discussed in this city (and many others), but there never seems to be a solution that works, that doesn't require us hiring two city cops for every one child on the street.

I think the thing that gets me most riled up is that this open transaction involved kids that were probably 15 or 16, and both parties acted like the whole thing was clock work. They had obviously both done it before, and they knew the ropes well. I hate that.

I know I didn't grow up in the city, or anything close to that (the most I had to worry about the was a small group of teens hanging on the stairs of Thessalon's main street - so scary I know!!! ...), but its discouraging to know that street drugs are so accessible to today's youth... in the middle of the week, in the busy downtown core, of the nation's capital.

Something has got to be done to get this under control...

Anyone feel like taking a leak on their keyboard?

This AM in the Ottawa Sun, I read a disturbing article stating that a study done by the University of Arizona concluded that half of workplace keyboards tested positive for urine.

Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww, gross.

I mean food crumbs I could see, but urine... seriously gross. As I am presently typing this post from my workplace keyboard (on my lunch hour), all I want to do is cringe, and heavily apply the One Step hand sanitizer. As I look closely at the keyboard, I see particles of dust, eyelashes, and god knows what else, thus making me think... what the 'H' is on my hands - that would be the same hands that I touch my face with, scratch my neck with, and run my fingers through my hair with?

Gross. Gross. Gross.

If you sit and think about it, while working we sometimes sneeze in the middle of typing out important documents, but sneezing never phases a person, we cover our faces and then go right back to typing. Mix these sneezing germs with the urine on the keys, and who knows what type of poison you have just created for yourself. Then... let's not forget to rush off to that meeting down the hall, shake a few hands of senior management, transferring the poison (and who knows what they have just given to you), then return from your meeting and re-work the same document you were typing out earlier.... making a third melange of the germs on the keyboard... yum yum. By the end of the day, one can only imagine what you are taking home for dinner that evening to share with your family and friends.

Gross.

Apparently some company has come out with a product called Kleen Keys, and supposedly you can wash this keyboard with soap and water which would help eliminate the germs, including the traces of urine... but I can't exactly see my workplace management signing up for 45,000 of these to solve the problem in our Agency.

However, the article does make a good point in that keyboards are common carriers of germs, which lead to flu outbreaks, and other sicknesses that force employees to stay home from work. Perhaps if employers invested in a product such as Kleen Keys, absenteeism would decrease while productivity increases, thus making it worth while to invest in the solution.

I don't know... I have hard time seeing my colleagues and I fighting for the sink in our already dirty kitchen just to scrub down our boards before a big day of work, but ya never know, it could happen.

What I do know is that I will never look at my keyboard in the same way again... and I might as well order myself one of those chairs with the bucket under the seat as apparently going to the bathroom and washing your hands afterwards clearly isn't enough to keep the germs to a minimum.

Gross. Completely and utterly gross.