Author: admin

http://rochman.blogspot.com/
Check out Matt’s blog for a recap of Friday night’s poker game. I was impressed with how well I played. However, it’s all about the cards you are dealt and Dave dealt really shitty once it came down to Shannon and I.

Also went to the 67’s game Friday night which was fun. Beer and peanuts are the way to go at a hockey game. ACTUALLY, let’s talk about peanuts for a moment. They are the ultimate snack. It takes you effort to eat them, so you don’t eat much. It strengthens your thumb muscles. It helps you drink less beer at a hockey game (ideal for the guys who drive there).

Two (well used) thumbs up.

http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/2005/11/20/1315314-ap.htm

Interesting article on John Lennon.

Yesterday was an awful day for weather…I was stuck in both snow, freezing rain and rain at various times yesterday. It felt good to get home at night and do the running man in my bed.

Woke up in a nice toasty house. That’s what life is all about. Waking up with some socks on your feet because it was freaking cold and then getting up to warm heat waves hitting your body.

Going to see Aerosmith and Lenny Kravitz tonight which should be great! Also, I picked up the U2 tix the other day, and even though they are the worst seats in the world (aka nosebleed section), I cannot knock free tix. Actually, Joelle and I are thinking of going to a scalper and upgrading to floor tix. Heck, why not?

Random things that are keeping me having an excellent day so far:
– James creating a survey on Holly-isms
– Getting paid
– Reading my Dune book
– Thinking about Christmas holidays coming up
– Not looking at my credit card statement

I like to think it’s the little things in life that make me happy. ACTUALLY, this brings up an excellent lecture I was at last night on Advertising.

Supposedly, a survey was made on what people cherish most (aka material items vs. immaterial items) and of course, the immaterial items won out (aka, love, companionship, healthy lifestyle, good friends, yada yada yada) but then it goes to talk about how there are so many advertisements out there than ever before and how this has become a very material world.

My favourite part of the night was when they were talking about DeBeers and how they started the slogan for diamonds – “Diamonds are Forever.”. Well, during the 30s, people were selling off their diamonds for cash so they had to think of a way for that not to happen anymore. So they started the Diamonds are Forever campaign. Essentially, never sell your diamonds because you can pass them on to family members. Hence, they can sell a whole lot more original stock since no one resells them.

This was an interesting point brought up because a) No one in the class could admit that they would ever part with their diamonds and b) It shows how advertising has influenced us.

In reality, diamonds are just another material possession. I buy a car for $25K and then I try and sell it years later. Why? Why not keep it? Cars are forever? Alright, bad example, cars break down.

What about all the junk which is in your house right now, but at the moment, you just HAD to have it? It was interesting for the teacher to imply that diamonds are just another material object that people implant thoughts into your brain about.

One woman even said that for her, diamonds represent a good, solid, healthy relationship between your partner. Well, the diamond companies really did their work on that one! (at this point in my rant, I’m not knocking anyone who have bought diamond rings for their loved ones for a marriage. Heck, I’ll be doing it also.) Shouldn’t our emotions and actions show that we have a good, solid, healthy relationship and not a rock? I guess a diamond is to represent this bond between two people.

That’s great and all, but what if I chose to get my wife a necklace, or a colour bracelet (like everyone has nowadays) to show my love for her, and she wore it until the day she died? Is there anything wrong with that? Sure there is…people would look at us like we were freaks!

Why?

Because advertising tells us so.

I find the lecture on advertising an interesting one because a) I think a LOT of us realize what advertising does (or attempts to do) to us and b) There is no B.

Go here.

Boom.

There’s goes the profits you money-mongers.

Verdict: Tenant in the right, Landlord in the wrong.

Result: $120 to replace groceries, $30 for beer.

What the heck am I talking about?

In short, a week after I moved out of Beverley House, the landlord phoned Carrie to see if it’s alright to come and clean up the kitchen. No problem!

Problem is that Carrie came home to find all the contents of the cupboards in a box, as well as all food from the fridge thrown into garbage bags. We’re talking condiments, frozen food (gone bad by this point of course), recently cooked stuff, juice, you name it, it was there.

So of course retaliation is in order but it turns out that the landlord doesn’t think he did anything wrong since he had to make the place presentable for potential tenants. I suppose he forgot that we are doing him a favour by letting him into the place before we move out, and…oh yes, the most important thing: Carrie is still living there, hence she needs food to survive.

Anyhow, the landlord didn’t budge so we went to the Housing Tribunal this morning where we got some free legal advice from an Ottawa U student (awesome! Thanks Mark!) as well as went to a mediator instead of having to go in front of the court. The landlord wouldn’t budge while talking with the mediator, but after she spoke to him alone, we came back in and he offered to pay $150 which we gladly accepted.

Lesson #1 Learned: Did you know that legal advice is free in a lot of places? Bring it to the University’s if you need to! They handle tenant cases a lot of the time.

In the end, justice prevailed. We are happy with the result, although are still baffled as to how someone could manage to believe they have the right to do something like that to us. All along, we were just trying to be nice and let them work on the house before we left.

Lesson #2 Learned: When it comes to landlords and tenants, sometimes it doesn’t pay to be nice.

Someone just called me Scrooge because I did not wish to partake in:

a) Helping out at a soup kitchen
b) Going carolling

before/during/after a Christmas party I’m holding.

Their reason for calling me Scrooge was this: “Because you don’t want to do a charity thing…”

I know this person does not have ill intentions at saying this, but at the same time, I have to wonder, does everyone automatically feel this way when you approach them with a charitable idea and you kindly refuse because you either

a) Have other plans
b) Do your own charity thing throughout the Holidays

Just because someone says they are not interested in helping out does not mean that they don’t want to do charity things.

Now I’m in a position where I feel like a Scrooge, but at the same time, I don’t feel like I have to rhyme off every good thing I do for charity just to prove a point.

Lesson Learned: Don’t call anyone Scrooge (unless their name is actually Scrooge. Or if they blatantly tell you that they abhor charity work and do not believe in helping others. That’s just plain mean. They really ARE Scrooge!)

Have a court date with the Housing Tribunal vs. our old landlord. Carrie and I think we’ll nail the session, but who knows how these things work? I’m thinking it won’t be anything like Law and Order and I won’t have the opportunity to yell out “I WANT THE TRUTH!”

Perhaps I can blog live from the event…

iplaying: The Hardest Part – Coldplay (coming on tour again! Here’s hoping I actually get to go this time!)