Office Etiquette

I’m in a growly mood. Mainly because of people! Some days, the ignorance and blindess of co-workers is enough to drive anyone mad! Or at least it’s enough to drive me into my own business…

Here’s my list of what’s bugging me today as it pertains to office etiquette (which I would hope would be common professionalism, but I obviously aim way too high):

• Talking with your mouth full of food – Seriously, if I can hardly understand what you’re saying, SHUT UP and finish what’s in your freakin’ mouth! You are in my office, have some respect! If what you have to say is so important, have your lunch at another time elsewhere…
• Say the same thing over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and… (do you see how annoying this is???) – This one REALLY bugs me. I’m not generally at work looking for something to do. Usually, I’m busy. As such, I do NOT appreciate having the SAME conversations over and over and over again! I especially do not appreciate that the same point is made 3 or 4 times in the same meeting… Say it once. Get it out. Let’s deal with it. Now lets move on, people!
• Clean up after yourself – This is home. Your wife/mom (aka “Maid”) does NOT work here (well for most of us). So, if you use a dish, WASH IT when you’re done. If your food explodes in the microwave, CLEAN IT OUT. And yet, we have to be told to do this? Seriously? GROW UP.
•  Learn how to unplug a toilet – Yep, this ain’t a joke. I have lost count as far as how many times I’ve noticed the toilet in the men’s washroom with 1/2 a roll of toilet paper jammed in it and the perpetrator has walked away. What is this attitude of “someone else can deal with my crap”??? Are you really that prissy? The plunger is RIGHT BESIDE THE FREAKIN’ TOILET. Pick it up. Put it in the toilet bowl. Push down. Repeat until plug is gone. There, was that hard? If you can’t unplug a toilet, I truly wonder about your ability to survive life… Seriously…

So there you have it. It is off my chest. If I could put this in an email and send it out office-wide (without getting fired or made to publicly apologize for being honest) I would do it! This will have to do. Maybe I can hope that one of you guilty parties will stumble across this post…

Pick up your dog crap

Here’s a rant that goes out to all you oblivious, selfish or otherwise just plain lazy dog owners. Part of the responsibility of having a dog includes cleaning up after him/her. It comes with the territory, no If’s And’s or But’s about it, that’s the way it is.

 

First of all, there are those out there that will let their dog relieve themselves on a sidewalk and still walk away, leaving it for the next unsuspecting sidewalk user to take it with them on the bottom of their shoes. For those of you like this, I’m not writing to you. Not because you don’t need to hear this, but because you’re hopeless. Truly hopeless. And no rant will change that. Also, this doesn’t even include those of you who take the time to pick up after your dog (probably because someone was watching), only to throw the plastic bag in someone’s yard or flower bed!!!! For you, there really is little help.

 

So, for the rest of you that consider yourselves somewhat of a responsible dog owner, this rant  is for you.

 

I ride my bike to and from work every day. In an effort to avoid being run over by crazy, angry or oblivious motorists, I stick to the trails as much as I can. And, of course, these trails are great not only for biking, but jogging, hiking or even an evening stroll. Most people that enjoy these trails do so with their dogs, and I commend those that are committed to properly exercising Spike and Little Miss Muffy alike. But what I absolutely abhor is your inherent lack of sense with what to do with your dog’s crap.

 

Fine, we’re on a trail, out in the middle of nowhere. So I maybe understand that you don’t think you need to clean it up. In fact, if my dog is breaking a new trail through the bushes, you’re darn right I’m not going to follow him to pick up the crap. But if my dog decides to leave a warm, smelly gift right on the trail, yes, it is my responsibility to do something about it! Grab a stick. Grab a rock, I don’t care what, but grab something and simply flick that crap OFF the trail! It really isn’t hard, but if you do find it difficult let me know and I can upload a You Tube video of the simple steps:

1.       Dog takes a dump on the trail.

2.       Owner picks up stick from trail.

3.       Owner flicks crap off of trail.

4.       Owner throws stick into bushes.

 

Pretty simple, really, so let’s all give this brand new technique a try, eh? Please, save the rest of us coming behind you from stepping or riding through it and then having to enjoy that lovely aroma all the way back home. There, a short rant for a simple process that really shouldn’t be an issue.

 

I just have to say it again, why isn’t common sense more common???

 

Water Mis-Use

Ok, I haven’t had much to rant about lately, so I suppose that’s a good thing, right? Maybe it means I’m becoming generally happier in nature and things don’t bug me as much. Maybe people are becoming less annoying? Maybe I’m just too annoyed to even bother writing... Probably the last one.

 

However, I have to write about people watering their lawns. We live in a desert. Sure, it’s Canada, but Kamloops is the Canadian desert. We have cacti, we have sandy, dry land. We have rivers and lakes that recede by extreme amounts during the summer months. We hit very high temperatures. Yes, it’s a desert. Sure, it’s no Sahara, or even Arizona, but this is a desert. And as such, you would think that those of us living here would have some idea of water conservation during the hot summer months. You’d think we would. But no, we do not.

 

Ok, I apologize for generalizing. I know there are a lot out there who do understand and comply. However, the reports don’t lie. Kamloops residents are indeed water wasters! The average water use per person per day is 790 litres over the course of an entire year. During the peak summer months, this average jumps up to 1800 litres (the average over the winter is 430 litres per person per day). This peak season is apparently 38 to 50% higher than other central interior communities, not to mention the rest of Canada.

 

Kamloops is going to be installing water metres, with a base charge for an allotment of 500 litres per day per household during the fall and winter months and an allotment of 1000 litres per day per household during the spring and summer months. This, in my opinion, is a good step. Granted, those of us who don’t even use the allotted amounts will still pay for the full amounts and that does annoy me to no end. But, those that use way more than these amounts will be charged additional, and that helps my annoyance to some degree!

 

For example, we just had three days with torrential rains this week. In fact, it’s rained probably every night so far at least once. And yet, the morning after people are out setting up their sprinklers and watering their lawns! Really people? Are you truly that clueless? Yesterday my wife went for a jog and saw a lady cleaning flower petals off of her sidewalk with the water from her hose! Seriously, is a broom really that difficult?

 

This is beyond ignorance. This is downright irresponsible and stupid.

 

Our neighbour across the street waters his lawn every day all day. And then, when Kamloops restricts our use during the hot months to only being allowed to water every other day, he must go nuts thinking his lawn is dying. Trust me, neighbour, it ain’t dying because of a lack of moisture. It’s dying because it’s drowning! And the kicker is his lawn looks very bad all summer, so you’d think he’d look it up and try and figure out what he’s doing wrong. The installation of these water meters must really irk him. Actually, it makes perfect sense. By watering every day all day during the spring, he creates a very weak and “lazy” lawn. One that doesn’t have to work to live. Therefore, when he is restricted to every other day, the lawn doesn’t have the strength to actually withstand a single day of heat. In other words, it’s a weak, fat, lazy couch potato of a lawn!

 

Anyone with internet access and half an ability to search online can find out within seconds how to properly conserve water, especially when watering your lawn. Leave your lawn longer (2-3” long, which helps retain moisture and even combats weeds). Leave the grass clippings on your lawn (they break down into fertilizer and nutrients for the roots and help retain moisture). Only water your lawn (so many sprinklers water half the street, driveways, neighbour’s cars, really?) And as for watering, water once a week. Yes, once. Not every day. Not all day. But once a week. They say water about 2 inches in the morning on the weekend (this would be about 2-3 hours). Granted, when the weeks are hot and sunny (40° or more consistently), a mid-week watering may also be necessary. Watering mid afternoon is futile as it will evaporate faster than the roots can soak it in. And during the night can actually cause rot!

 

So as I ride to work or back each day and see the countless people watering endlessly, whether it be their lawn or washing their sidewalks and/or driveways, I just want to stop and shake some sense into them. But then I might get charged with assault or something. So, I will stick to this rant for now and just hope that by some miracle, some Kamloops residents will stumble across this post this summer! But then again, if they haven’t found the other information about proper water use yet, what are the chances of them finding this?

 

He that knows not

A neat proverb I came across today:

 

"He that knows not, and knows not that he knows not is a fool.
Shun him

He that knows not, and knows that he knows not is a pupil.
Teach him.

He that knows, and knows not that he knows is asleep
Wake him.

He that knows, and knows that he knows is a teacher.
Follow him."

- Arabic proverb

 

What category do I fall into? Hopefully mostly the pupil. Sometimes maybe the teacher. But too often the fool. How can I remain more a pupil than a fool?

 

Don't mess with my routine

So, I think anyone that knows me knows that I can be a man of tradition. If I find a burger that I like at a particular restaurant, I will order that same burger every time I go there for the rest of my life. My mornings before work are very much ‘routine’. Get up, get dressed, do the bathroom things, make my lunch, have devotions, go to work. I get up at the same time and leave at the same time.

 

Now, as I’m commuting to work, I have fallen into a routine for the first while at work as well. I get to the office, put my bike up and log on. Turn on the fan (yes, I’m very hot from the ride!), and log my ride progress (speed, etc.). Then, I’ve even started blogging about my ride as well (www.kamloopscommute.blogspot.com). At that point, I’m usually cooled down enough so I go get changed and cleaned up for work. Then I get my Gatorade, coffee and toast and start the day.

 

Rinse, lather and repeat.

 

I realized today that I REALLY get annoyed if someone breaks that routine. Yes, if I am interrupted before I get changed, I get annoyed. If someone interrupts me while my toast is in the toaster, I get annoyed (this one is particularly bad because if I’m not there when the toast pops and it gets cold before I can butter it, then it is a waste of good toast and that REALLY annoys me...). I’ve even had people interrupt me while I was eating my toast with some “emergency” that really could not wait 5 minutes. No “When you’re done, can you come check this out...” Nope, just “Come now”. But I’m eating!!!

 

Anyways, just a realization this morning that as a creature of considerable habit, I really do not appreciate it when someone breaks that habit or routine of mine. It throws my day off! If I don’t get my toast before 9:30, then I’m not hungry for lunch, so I’ll eat late, which means I’m still full and digesting by the time my ride starts home which means my ride isn’t as enjoyable, I can’t catch my breath, I’m slow, etc. All because my routine was messed up!

 

So there. Don’t mess with my routine. It works, it’s efficient and the rest of my day benefits from everything else falling properly into place...

 

HAHA! I’m really not this serious about it all, just minor-ly annoyed really...

Life is getting so connected

There’s an RVing commercial lately that states “Don’t let the things that connect us keep us from being together” (or something to that effect). It shows the family as Dad comes home from work (texting on his Blackberry). Son is playing on his PSP or something, Daughter is on her cell phone and Mom is... Well, I don’t know what she’s doing, but the point is they’re all so ‘connected’ to their gadgets that they don’t even say ‘Hi’ when Dad comes in the door. Disgusting!!!!

 

So, for myself, I can at least enjoy the squeals and yells of my kids for a few more years until they too become ‘connected’.

 

This isn’t really a rant per se, as I love technology. I have a smart phone (although no data plan or texting, hah!!!). I have our Xbox connected to our desktop which is networked wirelessly with our laptop... In fact, I had the cable coming through my Xbox at one point so we could pause, rewind and record live TV! I love being connected.

 

Granted, enough is enough. It seems nowadays that to leave a cell phone at home is cause for a National emergency. It warrants return trips home, being late for work/school, wasting gas, money and time just to go back and get it. It wasn’t that long ago that NOBODY had a cell phone and everyone seemed to survive OK. Just a few weeks ago Corrie and I noticed a boy riding his bicycle and texting! And then that same weekend, two girls out horseback riding on a beautiful mountain side with grand views of the Kamloops valley and one of them was texting!

 

So, I’m not really ranting, only that now I have discovered this option to post to my blog via email (who needs the inconvenience of actually going to a website, logging on, typing all of this up when I can just send it right from my email?). So, in essence, I’m testing this process. I’m sending this post from my email account. Sure, if this works, I will probably use it a lot. Post from anywhere! Heck, once I can afford a data plan (which will probably coincide with the same time that I can afford a Porsche and a big house... These plans in Canada are retarded, but that’s fodder for a different rant and post), I might even post to my blog from my phone!

 

Maybe I’ll be able to post from my Xbox wirelessly through my laptop connected to my TV and then through my truck’s OnStar system some day...

The dreaded black steel rim season

Ok, I live in Canada. We get snow and lots of it in probably 95% of this country. So no matter where you live, people are starting to wise up and buy winter tires so they can handle the conditions. That's great! The more traction these bad driver's have, the better chance we all can get through our days alive...

However, the amount of BUTT UGLY steel rims that come out in spades when the snow flies really bugs me! I hate the things. There could be nothing uglier on a vehicle than these rims. Ok, maybe a wooden spoiler made out of 2x6's would be uglier (I did see that once!). However, these rims are a blight on the nation!

Ok, they're cheaper than aluminum rims, sure. I can buy a cheap aluminum rim for about $100, but a steel rim will run me around $60 or $70. So, that's a decent amount of savings really. I've also heard the arguement that it's cheaper than paying a shop to re-mount the tires each season.

Let me debate both of these points. First of all, winter is long in Canada. You will drive around probably half the year with these abominations just to save a few hundred bucks? I see the need for a little bit of pride in ownership here! It's not like this is just for a month or two. Whatever, money talks so this one is hard to debate on principle alone.

As for the second point, though, hear me out. Two shop visits a year, 4 tires for $50 equals $100 a year spent. Over two years (the average life of a winter tire), you'd have spent $200, or the cost of 4 very cheap winter rims. Where is the savings there? Unless you're running your winters into 3 or 4 seasons and therefore really missing the point of the tire in the first place...

Now, whatever, cost is cost and people will cheap out when needed. Fine. But, please, if you can afford a $60,000 Denali or Caddilac, PLEEEEEAAAASSSEEE don't put cheap black rims on!!! Granted, when this happens you are happily broadcasting to the world that "I cannot afford the life I want to live, but I have to try and keep up with the Joneses" and that does give me a little pleasure...

Until next time!

Diesels and Ignorance - Yes, they often do go together!

Well, as I am now biking to work (I suppose the proper term is 'commuting'), and only riding the streets 1/2 the time, I have quite a lot less things to rant about lately!

However, there are two things that do bother me now that I am riding that deserve a ranting post... First of all, DIESELS!!!

I absolutely am becoming a HATER of the diesel engine. Sure, it's great torque and power... WHATEVER! When I'm huffing up a hill grasping at any bit of breath I can manage, I really am not pleased when a dirty, black trail of diesel smoke is left by some redneck (usually Dodge's are the absolute worst for polluting). Yay! Now I get to breath this crap in spades!!!

On this note, why do we look down at the odd gasoline engine that is smoking, but no mention is made of the disgusting pollution left by most of the older diesels??? They are absolutely morbid in the black clouds of pollution they leave everywhere! I'm really excited about the new bluetec diesels coming out, that is great! And most of the trucks/cars are OK (aside from being astronomically noisy), but seriously. Do we have to put up with this?

Ok, my second rant is for those putzs out there that think they can drive as close to me and my bike as possible. You know what? For the most part, whatever. I can handle it. But what if I have to swerve for a rock or hole? What if a tire blows and I'm thrown off my bike? What if you're just plain oblivious and clip me? Why take the chance?

When I'm riding on multi-use trails, I do not fly right close to hikers or joggers or even other bikers. I will slow down, and take them as wide as I can. Why? Because everyone is unpredictable, and I do not need to crash with another person when it is completely avoidable. And that crash would most likely only result in a minor bump and/or bruise. Getting run over by a car? Quite another matter.

Last summer, a cyclist was killed in Kamloops because a blown tire threw him onto the highway where he was hit by a dump truck. Had that truck had the place of mind to get into the other lane (he had two, he did not need to be in the right line next to the cyclist), that man would be alive today with his wife and kids. As it is, one oblivious driver, one freak accident, and the results are unbelievably tragic. And for what?

Why not move over motorists? What is the huge inconvenience? Please! Have some common sense and decency. Give cyclists some respect.