What The... !?

People who don't live in Edmonton may have heard all about our shortage of workers and how businesses can't attract people to come and work for them. Pardon me for saying this, but isn't there a tent town full of people looking for work? Has anyone assessed whether these people have skills and talents that could be put to use being employed?

Anyway, I digress. I stopped at a local grocery store (Save-On Foods) this weekend. I had a few things, but not too many for the express checkout lane. The total was 11.43. I had some loonies and toonies I wanted to use so I pulled out four toonies and four loonies and handed it to the cashier. She looked directly at me and said, "Do you know how much this is?" I told her it should be twelve dollars and she took my word for it.

First thing - you are a CASHIER. That means it is your job to EXCHANGE CASH for goods bought in your store! Second, it wasn't like I handed her a jar full of pennies... there were eight rather large coins to count. It didn't seem like rocket science to me, but apparently it was too much for her.

My patience with people like this grows thinner each day.

It's Been A While...

And I apologize, but it was an unavoidable break. Regular posting will resume shortly.

First Day Impressions

So far, so good.

I have a nice cube, but a bad location. I met most of the people I'll be working with, but to be honest, the seating plan and nameplates are going to go a long way. People seem genuinely enthusiastic about working there and don't seem to be under the influence of any outside agent.

I did a lot of reading and am curious to see where my first assignment will be. The only offensive item is the oppressive IT policy. We have limited access to our desktops (hopefully my custom sounds, icons, and graphics will port over) and we can't even load websites like Hotmail. So that sucks, but I suppose that's why I have a home computer, right?

I'm still a bit anxious, but am looking forward to proving myself.

From My Vista...

My new computer came pre-loaded with Windows Vista. Overall, I like the new interface, Windows Aero style, and the Sidebar. Unfortunately, in the switch to the new operating system, I lost use of some wonderful applications.

My Astronomy program, Starry Night, doesn't run on Windows Vista. They are working on releasing a version for Windows Vista, but there is no ETA. My phone comes with software that allows you to download songs, sounds, pictures and video, but the installer is not compatible with Windows Vista.

It's been five months since Vista was released and developers have had the code for longer than that, and still there are compatibility issues? I know no one is in a rush to jump to Vista - I know I wasn't, and this was one of my reasons.

I'm fairly confident that it won't be another five months before I'll be able to use those programs. Fairly.

I Went Out For Shoes...

and ended up getting a new cellular. (I got the shoes too)

I never jumped on the cell phone bandwagon. I never even had one until December of 2000. Up to then, I really didn't have use for one. My first phone was a digital Motorola Startac that I got free with a three year contract. I could surf the web, but never did. I never had Call Display or Voicemail. I never had long conversations on my cell, I used the phone to call from the store to make sure I had everything, to call home to see if I needed to stop anywhere before coming home... you know, those sorts of situations. And it lasted all these years. Well, it was making a weird buzzing noise that would always disappear when the person you were calling answered, but other than that, it was a good phone.

My new phone is a Sony Ericsson W300i. It's a camera phone with 512 mB for video, photos, or music. It's a Walkman including radio, which is going to be great for riding the rails of the LRT. It's got this hands-free earbud/microphone cord that allows you to voice activate the phone and dial certain numbers. I remember when I worked at Telus, the Repair Department had the opportunity to trial a version of voice-activated calling features. As far as I knew, the technology was never released to the public. And I got mine included in a phone for fifty dollars and a two year contract, with an option to upgrade after a year.

Astounding, the difference a few years makes! The included software allows you to import music for ring tones and phone sounds, as well as graphics and other cool stuff to customize your phone.

Any guesses on what theme I'll be choosing?