Ontario Consumer Credit Assistance

The latest telemooketers to start annoy our household are from Ontario Consumer Credit Assistance. They call and leave an automated message giving 1-866-873-6222 as a call back number, as well as mentioning their website. Unlike other teletards they don't have a way of you getting off their call list at the end of the call. Mind you the others just ignore your request but at least they pretend to care.

From what I have read on the net and from the OCCA website they are yet another debt relief company. They have been annoying people from all across Canada with their calls. Often calling several times a day or several days in a row. These assholes are also on Facebook.

Luckily, it is easy enough to cut morons like this off from calling you. I found out how to block out phone numbers the last time the telemooketers targeted us. Dial *60 after a few seconds press the # key then 01 and the # key again. That adds the last caller to the blocked list. It worked like a charm to block the previous teletards and hopefully will do the trick again.

Water Mooks

I was going to write this up as a Mook of the Week post but it concerns things that happened a month or more back and more than one mook. It concerns a breed of Mooks I called Water Mooks. They take their stupidity to the water and often end up endangering others. Especially those would risk their lives to try and save such obvious morons.

In mid-August I took my Brother and his wife to Peggy's Cove. The waves at Peggy's Cove are notorious, even when there is no storm, for dragging idiots who get to close to the edge of the water out to sea. On a clear day some big waves crash in there. Even though there are warnings some idiots ignore them and go to the edge. These mooks actually take their kids within reach of the waves.

The Mooks in the picture below actually came pretty close to going for a swim. See where the rock that juts out into the water is dark and wet? They were there when the wave rolled in and if they had been a little slower they would have ended up smacked around by it. And the cunning stunt brought his kids!

In early September we caught the edge of a Hurricane. Waves in some areas were 5+ metres high. Even when the waves weren't present the storm surge created a nasty rip tide. Many people, myself included, went to see the waves. From a safe distance. Some idiots, Water Mooks, mainly surfers, actually went into the water.

The following pictures are from a group of these Mooks at Lawrencetown beach.

Then you have the following Mooks at Cow Bay the same evening. The idiot in the first few pictures was having a lot of trouble reaching the shore. He was still bobbing out there when we left.

He was part of a larger group and had gotten washed away from them.

The next day I heard that the RCMP water rescue team had to go out and rescue a surfer. I wouldn't be surprised if it was this idiot.

Fine, you want to put your own life in danger go for it. You are the bottom of the food chain and deserve what you get. Unfortunately, others will put their life in danger to try and rescue these idiots from a situation they shouldn't be in.

Maybe the guy who owns the restaurant at Peggy's Cove doesn't want to judge this type of idiots but I will. They are a bunch of fucking mooks!

What the ... credit card scam?!?!?!?

My mother got scammed for her credit card number over the phone this afternoon. The piece of shit scammer called from 110-333-4445. He said he was from BMO, her bank, and was calling to offer her a lower interest rate on her credit card. What convinced her it was real was the fact he knew what her last 2 payments were as well as her limit. How he got that information I don't know. She did catch on to him but not until after she had given him her credit card number and the security number on the back.

She immediately called the bank and they cancelled the card before it could be used. Then she got to spend the next hour plus on the phone. She reported it to the Anti-Fraud Centre, our phone service, and tried to report it to the RCMP (that was her first call) but only got an answering machine. Odds are she will hear from them tomorrow.

Now she feels like a fool. Well, to a degree she should. It was a foolish thing to do but we all have our moments of foolishness. She was quick enough to catch it before he had hung up and have the card cancelled. Anyone can fall for this kind of shit. Especially when the person has some of your banking information.

It would be nice if the police are able to id the guy. I would LOVE to say hi to him.

What the ... break down?!?!?

I am leaning toward breaking down and getting a cell phone. So work can get a hold of me any time. What can I say ... I want the hours. :)

Limitations

It is strange but I just realised how much my fears, whether silly or real, limit me at times. Take my walks. Lately, because of work and being on my feet 8+ hours, I cut back on my walking. Sure, I can rationalize some of it away by thinking about the fact I am walking around at work a lot. When I get home my feet hurt, as does one of my knees. So, I limit myself when it comes to walking by thinking I need more time to recover than I really do. Going for a long walk this morning showed me just how wrong my limitation was. The walk didn't really bother my feet or my knee. Not to the degree my fears let me think it would.

Now I have to work on that fear of heights thing.

New Addition to the Family?

My mother decided the house is too empty and dead without Ruger. She wants another dog, which means I will happily be taking care of him or her. 2 weeks ago she saw one in an SPCA add and fell in love with him. He is a 2 year old Shepherd-Husky named Grizzly. What a face! He has one brown Shepherd eye and one crystal blue Husky eye! He was found running loose in Cape Breton after being hit by a car. :( Last Weds we went to see him and initiate adoption.

While there we took him for a walk. That is when I noticed a lump on his left front paw. My heart sank. As soon as I saw the lump I thought cancer. Ruger's death from cancer Victoria Day and the time leading up to that still hurt's. It is something I don't think my mother could handle again so soon, and I know I couldn't handle it.

The SPCA was having him sent to a vet to have a lumpectomy and a biopsy done on it. They called today. He came through surgery well and the vet THINKS it is benign but it will be 2-3 weeks until the biopsy results are in. What do we want to do?

They suggested fostering him for adoption after the results. I don't know about that. We are already getting attached to him and he hasn't even lived with us yet. Plus it wouldn't be fair to him to have him for a few weeks and send him back. That just seems wrong on so many levels. They can keep him until the biopsy results are in but would have to make him available for adoption in the meantime. Which means he could go to someone else.

I just don't know what the hell to advise my mother to do. The thought of adopting him just to lose him to cancer is just tearing at my heart. But if he has cancer then he needs a loving home even more.

The best I can think of is to drive to the SPCA and talk in person. Find out what the vet thinks. Did they get all of the tumour? If they did what are the chances of it coming back? I just can't see bringing him home and not having him stay. Hopefully it works out but to quote Han Solo "I have a bad feeling about this." A feeling I have had ever since I first saw the lump.

*****

Updated 5PM same day.

We went to the SPCA and talked with them. They showed us the Vet's report on the surgery and tumour. It does seem benign. It wasn't attached to anything. They will do the biopsy and we may bring him home tomorrow. There is one last hurdle he has to pass. He has to get along with the Shitsus a friend of my Mom owns. They are over here a lot and she dog sits them too. He should pass that hurdle and could be with us tomorrow afternoon. :)

What the ... gullibility?!?!?!?

Just when you think you have seen it all some moron on facebook posts (or reposts) something like this.

FACEBOOK JUST RELEASED THEIR PRICE GRID FOR MEMBERSHIP. $9.99 PER MONTH FOR GOLD MEMBER SERVICES, $6.99 PER MONTH FOR SILVER MEMBER SERVICES, $3.99 PER MONTH FOR BRONZE MEMBER SERVICES, FREE IF YOU COPY AND PASTE THIS MESSAGE BEFORE MIDNIGHT TONIGHT. WHEN YOU SIGN ON TOMORROW MORNING YOU WILL BE… PROMPTED FOR PAYMENT INFO...IT IS OFFICIAL IT WAS EVEN ON THE NEWS. FACEBOOK WILL START CHARGING DUE TO THE NEW PROFILE CHANGES. IF YOU COPY THIS ON YOUR WALL YOUR ICON WILL TURN BLUE AND FACEBOOK WILL BE FREE FOR YOU. PLEASE PASS THIS MESSAGE ON IF NOT YOUR ACCOUNT WILL BE DELETED IF YOU DO NOT PAY.

Seriously? People fall for this shit? Evidently because I have seen it reposted by several people on Facebook.

How do you not ridicule someone who is stupid enough to post such obvious BS? Heh, I don't which means a few less friends that I didn't really know anyway.

Graveyard Shifts

I have been picking up a lot of extra shifts at work lately. Which drastically cuts blogging time. Mind you it also cuts the inclination to be on the computer much. Especially the way the weather has been lately.

Tonight I start the graveyard shift for a few days. I tried staying up last night and failed. I had pulled a long day shift and was just too tired to stay up. I tried sleeping during the afternoon but even a long walk couldn't tire me out enough.

So now I find myself a few hours away from my shift starting and a long night ahead of me with little sleep to prepare me. Gonna have to try and find some hints for getting the body ready for a shift change before it happens again.

Looking back at 9-11.

The anniversary of 9-11 is coming up and CBC is talking about it a lot. They are planning a lot of news shows with people talking about where they were when it happened or when they found out. It got me thinking of where I was when I found out.

I on the upper floor of a building waiting in line to get my passport. This was in preparation for going to South Korea. A guy a few spaces ahead of me in line, we were waiting for the office to open, was on his cell phone. He was going on about a plane hitting this and that. He was kind of loud and the people around me thought he was just being an ass. As did I. What he was saying just sounded so unbelievable.

I got my passport and went home. When I got home and switched on the news I found out the truth. The guy wasn't being a dick. He was being told the news as it happened. Damn!

I was a news junky back then and was pretty much glued to the TV after that. Friends of mine had been in New York City that week and had been at the World Trade Center on the weekend. I wondered if they were still in NYC. A cousin worked at the WTC. Was he ok?

Then the US closed their airspace. A lot of flights that were going there had to land in Canada. Flights that were supposed to leave Halifax airport were stranded. People here, and all over Canada, opened their homes to those who were stranded. We could have taken in a few people so after talking with my mother we offered up our house. There were actually more rooms offered up than people to fill them. It was nice to see people ready to help those in need at a time like that.

At the time I was helping to run a website that dealt with reality TV. As with most forums it had areas for all kinds of topics. One of our regulars lived in NYC and was posting updates throughout the crisis.

It just seemed so fucking surreal. Luckily, my friends were out of NYC before the attacks happened. My cousin's company had moved from the main WTC towers. Unfortunately, he did get to experience things from a nearby building. He will never forget the shit he saw. And so many others weren't as lucky as he was.

One of the things that pissed me off the most was the reaction of some, especially the Canadian media, in the aftermath. When President Bush, and I am NOT a fan of his, said thanks many in Canada jumped on it. Why? Because he didn't single out Canada. Seriously?

That is how fucking petty, selfish, and stupid some people and the media can be. He started by thanking everyone who helped. THAT included Canada. But he didn't single Canada out, like some other countries. Of all the stupid bullshit to focus on at a time like that. We know the US is our friend and that they appreciated our support. Unfortunately some are so insecure, and the media looking for anything to sensationalise, that they tried to make that an issue.

It seems so long ago now.

Implicit Association Test

After reading Eve's post about taking the Implicit Association test I decided to take it as well. According to the test I have no automatic preference.

You have completed the African American - European American IAT.

Your Result:

Your data suggest little to no automatic preference between European American and African American.

Thank you for your participation. Just below is a breakdown of the scores generated by others. Most respondents find it easier to associate African American with Bad and European American with Good compared to the reverse.

Many of the questions that you answered on the previous page have been addressed in research over the last 10 years. For example, the order that you performed the response pairing is influential, but procedural corrections largely eliminate that influence (see FAQ #1). Each visitor to the site completes the task in a randomized order. If you would like to learn more about the IAT, please visit the FAQs and background information section.

It is an interesting test. I had some reservations about it part way through. The testers had bad on the same side as African-American and good on the European-American side. However, that was switched around.

Does it mean I am not prejudiced? No. Everyone is to some degree whether it is based on skin colour, ethnicity, gender, even hair colour. To paraphrase Eve, only a fool would take the test and start proclaiming it is evidence they are not racist or completely free of prejudice. When I was younger and more foolish my result would have been different.

Doctor Who Quotes

I decided to enjoy part of my day off by catching up on some television. (The weather is too blah to go out and do anything. And 10 minutes after posting this the sun came out.) So I caught up on my Doctor Who and watched the two latest episodes. There were some great lines but after watching the shows I couldn't remember them verbatim so I did what any nerd would do and googled "Doctor Who Quotes". It led me to a great site, Wikiquote. It has a huge amount of quotations by the Doctor, just missing the latest episode. Including the quote that was stuck in my head. "Never knowingly be serious. It went thusly;

The Doctor: Sonic cane!

Melody: Are you serious?

The Doctor: Never knowingly. Never knowingly be serious — rule 27. You might want to write these down.

Heh ... I love that one. :)

Now to go look at some Leroy Jethro Gibbs quotes. ;)

What's new?

I started a new job last week. Training actually started the week before. Unfortunately, my employer doesn't want us talking about them on any sort of Social Networking site. I understand why, and agree to it. Which means work won't be providing me with anything to write about and holy shit the stories I could write.

It is only part time for now but with the chance of full time hours. The work is pretty interesting and there is room for advancement. So, as long as I am getting good hours, I can see staying there for quite a while.

This is going to affect my online time, which may not be a bad thing. My shifts can be all over the place. Work has people there 24 hours a day. So if I don't respond to you quickly or post your comment don't take it personally.

What the ... trite phrase?!?!?!

"It is what it is."

I don't know who first started using that phrase but nowadays you hear it a lot. Way too much in fact. The husband of one of my niece's is a prime example of a person who overuses that phrase. It will pop up several times in the course of a conversation.

"What do you think about this or that change your favourite hockey team made?"

"It is what is is." and no explanation of exactly what that means.

"Why did that happen at work?"

"It is what it is."

The first time I remember hearing it used too much was in the first Top Chef series. You would hear it several times an episode. They actually joked about it at the reunion show. Since then it appears all the time on the show.

It has become so overused that I tend to cringe when I hear it and think the speaker just isn't articulate enough to express themself without resorting to some trite phrase.