rants and observations

A heads up for those men who may be regular Home Depot customers. Over the last month I became a victim of a clever scam while out shopping. Simply going out to get supplies has turned out to be quite traumatic. Don’t be naive enough to think it couldn’t happen to you or your friends.
Here’s how the scam works:
Two seriously good-looking 20-21 year-old girls come over to your car as you are packing your shopping into the trunk. They both start wiping your windshield with a rag and Windex, with their breasts almost falling out of their skimpy T-shirts. It is impossible not to look. When you thank them and offer them a tip, they say ‘No’ and instead ask you for a ride to another Home Depot. You agree and they get in the backseat. On the way, they start undressing. Then one of them climbs over into the front seat and starts crawling all over you, while the other one steals your wallet.

I had my wallet stolen February 4th, 9th,10th, twice on the 15th, 17th, 20th, & 24th. Also March 1st, 4th, twice on the 8th, 16th, 23rd, 26th, 30th, three times last Saturday and very likely again this upcoming weekend. So tell your friends to be careful.
P.S. Walmart has wallets on sale for 2.99 each

I’ve always thought Pavarotti’s ‘Nessun Dorma’ was the ultimate until a few weeks ago I stumbled across Mario Lanza’s rendition on YouTube. My father listened to Lanza constantly and I remember hearing ‘Be My Love’ playing downstairs early on Sunday mornings while he made breakfast but I’ve never truly appreciated his amazing voice until I listened to this. They just don’t make ‘em like that anymore. (Lanza’s ‘Nessun Dorma’ is available on Mario Lanza – Opera Arias & Duets which doesn’t seem to be available for download purchase. If you have a copy of this disc and would like to sell or rent please send a note on the AprilRoad contact form)

Today’s Province newspaper has an interesting article about our covert Translink Board and its inner workings. Ethan Baron writes that the 9 member board received nearly $575,000 in pay and benefits in 2008-2009. Remember, this is the same board that continually pleads poverty and comes up with new and exciting ways to extract as much money from the pockets of taxpayers as it possibly can. How can this appointed board increase property taxes, increase gasoline taxes and increase transit fare rates by 10% over ten years without answering to the public? The board committed to part of the province’s $14-billion transit plan, for a total of $300 million more of your tax dollars. And all this from a group that meets behind closed doors and seems to be unanswerable to the public that pay their self-inflated salaries. Omerta within our government. Keep in mind that some of these clowns sit on numerous boards and draw multiple salaries. A nice gig if you can get it. My question is “How the hell can we let this crap go on??”. Are we so passive and non-reactionary that a group of bureaucratic windbags can extract hard earned money from our pockets without consulting us? Yup, we obviously are.