09.29.05:  So I'm sick as a dog right now.  There seems to be a nasty cold going around the area.  It actually incapacitated my for the first couple of days this week, but I was feeling good enough to come in for my 6 am shift this morning.  It should be a fun pedal bike ride home, it's currently 8 celcius, gusts of wind up to 55km/h (blowing eastbound, I need to head west), light rain.  Good times.

 

So Future Shop caved in twice in a week on warranty issues that they had been real sticklers on.  My laptop and xbox have been replaced.  I got a new widescreen Toshiba.  I am quite happy about this, although it took weeks of battling with the customer service department in BC.  The warranty department recognized that 5 repairs had been done, but contested that two of the repairs were not major (you need 3 completed + need a 4th), and therefore I did not qualify for replacement under their policy.  In the end, the local store ended up absorbing the full cost of the replacement - they took ownership of an issue that wasn't technically theirs.  I am grateful to have received the replacement I'm entitled to, but still a bit put off that it took so long. 

Future Shop had also denied repairing my xbox as they classified the damage as "physical damage".  I definitely did not (intentionally or otherwise) physically damage the unit.  Since they were giving me excuses, I asked to have them show me the warranty policy that I signed that states they won't fix it under the conditions they stated.  I was told "we'll find it and call you".  About 9 months later, I followed up, to have found out that they threw my xbox out.  Not a good move considering they were going to "get back to me" about the warranty policy I signed.  Basically, because they screwed up and threw out my personal property, they replaced it, no further questions asked.  Wait long enough, and you might just get what you paid for at Future Shop.  Not if you aren't persistent, though!

 

09.23.05:  With all the recent fear about Oil production capacity being reduced by Hurricane Rita, and the existing damage from Hurricane Katrina, gas stations across the country (and the USA) have taken to gouging consumers.  What really irks me is that the price of oil is going up on the consumer level today, but the oil itself on the consumer market today was purchased far before the recent hurricane activity at a fixed price.  Why then, are consumers feeling the pinch now?  It is simply price gouging.

 

Last night was complete chaos at the pumps, all around town.  Actually, all around the country.  I passed by a lineup over a block long at the pumps around the corner.   On the way back home, I decided to stop for gas at the Canadian Tire in Bell's Corners.   There were about 5 people staffed to direct the line up through the parking lot towards the gas station.  The station had run out of Regular and Plus fuel, and they were forced to sell their Premium gas at regular prices.  While waiting in line, I overheard the staff discussing the situation and it was mentioned they were nearly out of Premium gas.  The price was 97.5.  I managed to get $20 worth of gas to top up my car.

 

Today, I have heard reports of stations charging upwards of $2 a litre for gasoline.  I will remind you that this gas was purchased at a fixed price months ago, and the price per barrel has barely changed since that time.  This is nothing short of criminal price fixing and I hope that the stations that have participated and encouraged such behaviour get what's coming to them.  People driving SUVs and trucks certainly have!

 

08.30.05:  The wonderful people from Future Shop have really been pissing me off lately.  My laptop has needed 4 major repairs in the 2 years that I've owned it, and should be now eligible for a full replacement under their extended warranty program.  The last repair that was necessary was a replacement of the power supply.  I wrote a registered letter to Future Shop on Merivale in Ottawa to ask for a replacement laptop, as they are contractually obligated to provide.  Nothing so much as an acknowledgement that they had received the letters and would get back to me.  To get their attention, I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau.  This way, I got a response, although not what I was hoping for.

 

In an attempt to avoid actually following their contract, their representative has told me that replacing the power supply is not considered a "major" repair as the power supply is an accessory.  Call me computer literate or competent, but you can't power a laptop computer or charge it's battery without your power supply.  How then can they claim that replacing a power supply is not a major repair?  How then can they claim that the power supply was an accessory when it was a fundamentally critical component that shipped with the laptop?  Here is the definition of the word "accessory":  an unnecessary or supplementary item.  I hardly think so, Future Shop. 

 

I would like to suggest to anyone that was ever considering setting foot inside one of their stores or shopping online from them to look elsewhere.  Better deals and customer service are to be had anywhere than this giant corporation trying to squeeze the little guy for as much cash as possible, then doing everything in their power to avoid actually following their contractual obligations.

Tonight, I met some wonderful dogs in the parking lot outside the restaurant I had just visited.

 

They caught my attention because they bore a striking resemblance to a breed of dog that has been banned in Ontario.  Breeding this banned dog is not permitted.  All dogs of this breed are legally required to be muzzled in public, and all animals must be fixed/neutered.  I approached the owner and asked permission to meet his dogs.  Lissa was interested too, and mentioned that they bore a striking resemblance to a pure bred pit bull.  The owner confirmed that both his dogs were pit bulls.  The dogs came up to the window and allowed us to pet them after smelling us.  They were very soft.  They were very gentle.  They were curious and affectionate.  Speaking with the owner, he mentioned that he had children and the dogs were very good with them.

 

 

I cannot understand how anyone can justify banning these animals.  The temperment is all in how the dog is brought up.  These dogs did not instill any fear in me, they were wonderful animals, and I wish I had more time to spend getting to know them.  It's always heartwarming to meet a friendly dog with their owner.  It is up to the owner to teach their pet how to behave, obey commands and to socialize them properly with other dogs and people.  It only takes a few incidents with untrained large dogs to be provoked and defend themselves or their territory to give a breed a bad name.  Examples are Pit Bulls, German Shepherds, Rottweilers, Doberman Pinschers.  Any dog of this size is capable of a powerful bite.  Any of these dogs could take you down if they so willed.  Yet, any dogs I've met of these breeds have all had responsible owners that taught the dogs their place and how to interact with humans or other dogs.

 

You never hear of a miniature poodle biting someone because it isn't glamorous enough for the media to publicize.  The bite almost never kills the person because the dog is so small.  "Nippy" is a characteristic associated with small dogs.  So is "Yappy".  Yet this is tolerated due to the cute small size of the dog, when it is in fact aggressive and territorial behaviour.  If this happens with a dreaded "pit bull" the dog is labeled as a menace.  The dog is not considered "nippy" because a bite may result in more serious consequences than the flesh wounds from a lap dog.  Either way, the simple fact of the matter is the owner has not taken the time to train the dog properly.  Does this mean that we should ban large dogs because they are capable of inflicting more damage when provoked?  For that matter, should we ban driving a vehicle due to the risk of an accident?  I feel that most reasonable people would find this ban ridiculous if they experienced the affection from these animals as I did tonight. 

 

 

Knee jerk legislation is not the answer.  Perhaps an IQ test before being allowed to have a dog is.  Perhaps a test like getting a driver's license is an order.  What do you do if your dog growls and bares his teeth at a guest in your house?  A. Poke the your dog with a stick  B.  Euthanize your dog   C.  Ignore the behaviour and allow it to continue   D.  Call your MP and ask for legislation to ban your dog's breed    E.  Tell the dog NO, then reassure the dog that the guest is not a threat to in your/their territory and should be accepted into your pack.  Bring the dog over slowly to the guest, and if the dog is receptive, cautiously allow the dog to smell and meet the guest.  Usually at this point, the animal will warm up to the guest and quickly become a trusting friend.  However, if there is any other sign of further aggressive behaviour, tell the dog NO, and continue to reassure the animal that it is OK.  Make a decision to inform your guest to leave.  Take your dog to training school to reinforce that such behaviour is not tolerated.

I think you all know the answer to this one.  Hint:  It's not legislation.

I heard a few interesting stories tonight about people who drove motorbikes getting in accidents.

 

I can't help but shake my head when I hear stories about motorbike crashes.  In nearly every situation I've heard about or seen in a video, it was because someone was either inexperienced, or showing off.  There are a few exceptions with other drivers causing the accidents by disobeying right of way, or otherwise, but still, people can be idiots on bikes.

 

 

1st story:

 

Someone drives his bike up from the US on a trailer, and upon arrival at his friend’s, is asked repeatedly by his friend to borrow the bike to take it for a quick spin.  The guy refuses for a while, but is eventually coaxed into letting his friend take it out.  His friend gets on the bike, revs the engine then drops the clutch, and stalls the bike.  He does this a second time immediately after.  If at this point, there was any doubt that the bike was getting wrecked, well.. Let's just say the owner really should have been able to have forseen this happening.  The friend starts the bike for the third time, does the same thing, except this time, instead of stalling the bike, he wheelies the bike (a cruiser) straight into a ditch and slams into a culvert.

 

Moral of this story:

 

Don't lend your bike to someone that you haven't ridden with a few times before.  Don’t let someone drive off after they stall your bike twice in front of you.  Tell them it’s too hard on the clutch.

 

 

2nd story:

 

A guy is going through a mid life crisis and decides that since he rode a bike in his youth, he wants another one.  I can understand the desire to ride a motorcycle, and I don't blame the guy in the least for realizing his dream.  After years of no riding, he buys a brand new Suzuki GSX-R750.  This bike does 120km/h in first gear, and will get to 100km/h in less than 3 seconds.  This is definitely a bike for expert riders only, with years of riding experience.  I don't consider myself to be close an expert rider, and I wouldn't hesitate to say that this bike can do things that are far beyond my abilities.  It would be so easy to slide your rear tire out on this bike going around the corner if you gave it just the tiniest bit more throttle than was appropriate.  This bike needs to be respected because it will kill you if you don't give it the proper amount of respect.  Suffice to say, after years off with no riding, this is not the best bike to just hop on and relive the days of your youth.

 

Getting back to the story, the guy was driving around on very technical twisty roads up in the hills of Quebec.  He was going around a corner far too fast, and he veered off the road ever so slightly into the gravel strip beside the road.  He totalled his bike and broke his shoulder.  He had the bike for a total of 20 days.

 

Moral of this story:

 

Do not overestimate your ability with a bike after any time off.  I start the season off treating myself as a total newbie that has to relearn my abilities before I even begin to approach any sort of lean angle.  I get comfortable after a few weeks of riding, and clearly this guy felt the same way, but he had taken years off, and was riding one of the most extreme machines on the market in the most difficult (and dangerous) terrain out there.  Be careful out there.  If you want to scrape your knee against the ground, go to the track.  Public roads are not race tracks and you must expect that there is gravel or oil along the ground which will rob you of the traction necessary to lean your bike over that much.  Oh, and take a safety course before you start riding.  You don't get a Corvette as your learner car, do you?

 

 

3rd story:

 

A guy was going through a learner's course and grabbed the right side of the handlebar vertically while stationary.  The bike was running, and was in gear.  He found this to be uncomfortable, so he brought his arm back horizontally, which fully opened the throttle.  The sound of the engine startled him and he let go of the clutch lever, launching him at full throttle.  Having never experienced acceleration on a motorcycle, and not having the learned reflexes of operating the controls, he drove the bike straight into a wall. 

 

I find this particularly frustrating to hear about, because he was doing the right thing by taking a learner's course.  I don't believe the rider took enough care operating or learning the controls. I remember quite clearly being told to grip the handlebars horizontally so that if you go over a bump, your hand will not jerk back and open the throttle at all.  Unfortunately, this incident helped form his opinion that motorcycles are inherently dangerous and is of the opinion that 4 wheels are safer than 2 any day.  This is very frustrating to see this attitude get adopted after this accident.  I’ve been in 100% more car accidents than motorcycle accidents.   I certainly don't think that learning to drive a car should be taken any differently or approached with less caution that learning to drive a motorcycle.  If you aren't intimately familiar with the controls of either a car or a bike, you can hurt yourself.  Be very cautious when first attempting to use unfamiliar controls.  Take a learner's course and pay very close attention. 

 

 

4th story:

 

A buddy of mine enjoyed pulling wheelies on his bike due to the massive amount of power it generated.  He grew quite comfortable with his riding and decided to extend the distance of the wheelies as long as possible by shifting gears while the front end of his bike was in the air.  He was a very experienced rider, he had been to racing school at a track, and had/has great riding skills.  He kicked his shifter from 1st to 2nd while fully on the throttle and the bike reared straight up in the air.  He fell off from the bike at this point and slid along the ground.  He got up, got his bearings and saw his bike still traveling down the highway - with no rider.  He cringed as the bike lost all it's momentum and fell over, sliding down the highway at some speed on the parts that were never supposed to touch the ground.  He damaged his fairings, lost a mirror, damaged turn signals, scraped his engine case badly and bent a brake rotor.  Not to mention the bruises and scrapes from being ejected from his bike at 130km/h.

 

Moral of the story:

 

Don't do stunts with your bike.  If you want to do stunts on a bike, realize you are putting yourself and everyone around you in danger and take it to private property like a track or dragstrip.  Understand that you are going to damage your bike, and you will inevitably injure yourself at some point, probably sooner than later.  In short, don't do stunts with your bike.

 

 

5th story:

 

My dad bought a ninja 500, a great little starter bike and I went for a ride with him on a cool sunny day.  He had just finished meticulously cleaning his bike and had applied some wet tire grease to the side of the wheel, as he does with his cars to give them a clean look.  Turning from a stop sign a few blocks away from home, he low sided his bike at very slow speed because he had applied the grease to his tire.  His tires were also quite cold.  I fear that he may never fully trust his tires again after this incident.

 

Moral of the story:

 

Think about what you are doing to your bike when you are cleaning it, or replacing/installing parts.  Will this be a safe thing for the bike?  Why not?  Also, let your tires warm up fully before taking turns aggressively.

 

 

 

Everyone and their dog have a motorcycle crash story.  These people probably also have a car crash story too, but they don't mention that as soon as you get out from your car.  Why is that?  Why are insurance premiums on motorcycles so high?  When you get in an accident in a motorcycle, it is far more disastrous than in a car a lot of the time, either damaging the bike severely, and unfortunately, the rider more often than not gets hurt.  The rider is ejected from the bike and is subjected to sliding into whatever object in their path at whatever speed they were traveling at.  The bike will always fall to the ground, and parts that aren't supposed to ever make contact with the ground will get damaged/destroyed and will need to get replaced.  A piece of plastic that makes up your fairing is not able to withstand the force of 400+ lbs hitting the ground at high speed and will almost invariably need to be replaced.  Your gas tank will get dented.  You will lose mirrors and turn signals.  This is usually the best case scenario; it gets worse pretty quick from there.  It doesn't take much to total a bike.  Insurance companies never want to pay out a dime, and with the amount of inexperienced riders trashing their high performance bikes, or stunters getting in accidents, the rates are just astronomical. 

 

Knowing the consequences must be kept in the forefront of your mind when riding.  You must anticipate the unexpected.  Always look for an "out" in whatever traffic situation you encounter.  Expect that the parked car at the side of the road will pull out in front of you without looking at the last moment.  Never let yourself get in a situation where you are in great danger of getting in an accident.  Do not tailgate.  Do not let people tailgate you, let them pass.  I have applied the skills I've learned from riding a motorcycle to driving a car, and I feel that much more confident in my ability to avoid causing an accident.  I really wish more people would treat driving as an art that must be perfected and constantly refined to be done safely.  Taking the attitude that cars are safer leads to unsafe driving by carelessness.

 

Ride safe.