You heard about the couple who moved from Estevan to downtown Vancouver just so they could pay a lower rental rate?
Well, apparently that is no longer a joke. And we wonder why we have over 1,400 job openings around here. Look no further folks. That's why a new housing action plan is needed more than ever. And we do require a good influx of subsidized housing on top of the affordable housing projects. We trust our senior government representatives are taking note and forming an action plan of their own. We ain't begging for much longer. We'll be starting to demand pretty soon.
If you believe online stuff is super popular, there was a report issued last week that indicates their numbers are more than slightly skewed.
Online service providers are playing tricks, it seems. As we are learning, once we sign up for practically anything online, it's becoming increasingly difficult to sign off, cancel, delist, unsubscribe or whatever term they want to use. Online folks continue to use you as a number (member) for their own purposes, even though you no longer want to use them or aren't using them anymore.
Whether it's a credit card fee, or a one-time item you needed that required you to sign up and sign on somewhere ... you remain a part of the statistics and then of course, the newcomers sign on and all of a sudden, the providers are boasting about their 40 per cent increase in unique visits or "hits" or "subscribers" when in reality, the actual use could be down.
Instructions to cancel anything can become onerous and lengthy, providing you with no real assistance but a new world of hurt. So our advice ... actually read and see what the cancellation policy and procedures are before you blindly sign up. If you can't walk away without going through a whole series of clumsy nastiness, I say don't bother. So what they give us are growth statistics, mainly because those who are keeping the stats aren't letting you leave. You are a prisoner of the system.
So while I'm at this random thoughts business this week, I want to raise a couple more brief notes.
I am waiting for the day when the phrase "it doesn't matter any more" can be used in reference to interracial relationships. Wouldn't it be a nice place to live where we didn't have to identify ourselves and one another as First Nations, Caucasians, African Canadians, Asian descendents, Arab, East or West Indian or Jewish and so on and so on? Being a plain and simple Canadian or non-Canadian should be identity enough.
Now on to the inevitable concussions in hockey topic.
My humble suggestion is to make the equipment like the shoulder and elbow pads less of a weapon and more of a protective material and the second line of reasoning would be directed to the NHL Players' Association. My simple address to them would be something along the lines of "hey you guys, smarten up. You don't have to love your opponents, but for crumb's sake, at least show a little respect for one another. You're in it together in many respects, so cut out the crap. The game can be played without everyone having to carry a target on their backs. We know it can be done, we watched the World Juniors play it that way.
"We watch it in 95 per cent of the playoff games when there are higher prices to be paid for the stupid spur-of-the-moment flying elbow, knee or blindside hit, so why not all season? If you do pay more respect more of you get to play longer and make more money. It's really up to you to decide, not the commissioner or owners or anyone from the disciplinary committee. You guys inevitably decide how you're going to handle this problem."
And that's all I have to say about that and anything else this week. I'm letting you off easy, dear diary. You're welcome.
