just in case you folks in ontario and quebec forgot…

So, how many people pay attention to the bill stuffers that Bell Canada sends you? Didn’t think so. When I worked there, it was identified as the preferred method to send any information that wouldn’t be well received by the customer as studies showed a ridiculous percentage of customers tossed all the extra material without looking. But that’s another story…

A gentle reminder that a number of folks in Ontario and Quebec will be forced to switch to 10-digit dialing in the coming months. Those lazy, hazy, hedonistic times where you only needed seven keypresses to connect to someone in your local calling area is coming to an end.

I’m reasonably sure we’ll be seeing more ads for it in the coming months, but in the interim you can have a gander at the Candian 10-digit dialing website. Apparently Stentor was replaced with the “Telecommunications Alliance”, but I’m betting they only present themselves that way because the CRTC told them they had to.

In any event, get ready, as it’ll start working June 17th, and will become mandatory on October 21st or October 28th (dependant upon which area code you’re dialing from).

trip to the past

I was going through some paperwork (invoices from a decade and a half ago, when I ran my own company), and came across some pics I hadn’t seen in a while. I believe they were taken in the summer of 1990, but it could’ve been 1991. In any event, it was from one of the summers on Sunnyside, when my roomies (and pretty much everyone I worked with at Oliver’s) all worked at Wilderness Tours. The sequence is here, and was taken while our raft hit Coliseum, part of the rapids up in Beachburg, Ontario.

As you can see, I didn’t quite manage to stay in the boat. I still remember the hit vividly, as well as saying “awww, fuck”, then falling in the water and being plucked from said water by Mike and Kevin. Every single person, with the exception of one of the guides, was one of my friends at that point. It’s weird how time changes everything, as I haven’t spoken with anyone except Carlos (who manages the Big Daddy’s on Elgin) in years.

I can still name everyone in this pic (except for the second guide, who is at the back of the boat and appears to be leaning into the water). Starting with our guide (and my roomie and friend) in the red jacket and working clockwise they are: Dave (Shtuke), Michelle, Caroline, Mike, Kevin, Sandra, me, Carlos, Maureen, Sheri, Val, and Denis. While I’m normally not one for living in the past, these were all good people, and I’m sorry I have lost touch with pretty much everyone in the pic. That said, 16 years is a long time, and a lot changes.

It makes me a little sad, and I feel kinda old, all of a sudden.

dude. _dude_.

Ok, I don’t have kids, so perhaps I see more of the humour in this than someone who does, but Amalah’s latest entry struck me as fairly hysterical (although, I suppose that word can be used in a couple contexts as it applies there). It involves a night out on the town, and forgetting something that’s somewhat important out in the car. No, it wasn’t a wallet.

DUDE is right, because I now have something to hold over Jason’s head FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE, and I couldn’t be happier about that, since maybe now he’ll stop asking if Noah looks a little cross-eyed because I sort of let him fall off the couch that one time.

Poor Jason, and yes, poor Noah.

Walt, have you done this yet? Coop, take notes.

the new pornographers

I’d say “w00t!”, but that’d be… oh… I just did.

Why would I say that? The New Pornographers are playing Bluesfest this year on July the 16th. I am so there. They’re also playing Metropolis in Montreal a week this Sunday. I think I’m gonna try and be there… but who knows. I can’t get “These Are the Fables” out of my head these days.

They’re definitely getting the most ear-time of any one band lately, and I’d love to see them live.

Aside to little: They’re also playing at UBC in April with The Saltines and The Weakerthans. Looks like a fun show.

good to know

Toilet flush handles have a reverse thread. This information is useful if you’re trying to replace a broken one, as it may spare you the use of the brute-force method to remove the old handle. Next time I’ll try both directions, or having a look at the threads and determining which way is the right way to turn.

At least I didn’t crack the tank while applying said brute-force method.

a little irony to start the day

While driving along the Queensway this morning to meet my brother and sis-in-law for breakfast, I saw a funeral procession. One of the cars in the procession had the license plate “LVESTRNG”. Right.

got spam karma?

So, there’s a whole bunch of people who I know that use WordPress for their blogging needs, and Spam Karma for preventing those WordPress blogs from getting overrun with spam. They’re the default choice on any of the WordPress sites here on deadsquid.com, and both are outstanding pieces of software (in my opinion, for what it’s worth).

Spam Karma’s creator, Dr Dave, has had a few life changes of late, and has gone back to the world of being a full-time student. As we all may remember, this usually means lots of work and not-so-much cash. Maintaining the Spam Karma software can take a lot of time, and when your time is required for attending class and making money so you can continue to eat and sleep while attending class, the time for continued development of things like SK can suffer.

Dr Dave has written a great overview of the current state of Spam Karma, as well as a number of new challenges that he is facing on a few fronts. The net of which is he’s hoping to get a few donations to allow him to continue to combine time spent developing Spam Karma with the time spent keeping a roof over his head, books on the table, and fuel in the belly.

If you’re happy with Spam Karma, I encourage you to donate to the project (or his Bombay Sapphire fund), and help out a little. I know I’ve seen evidence of the new bot, and a couple tweaks did fix everything, but it’s reminded me of how much time SK2 has saved, and I thought is was worth a little sumthin-sumthin’.

something to remember

A glass of good red wine added to your tomato-based pasta sauce is an excellent idea.

A glass of good, dry, white wine added to your cheese-based pasta sauce and/or cheese fondue is also an excellent idea.

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