February, 2007

That’s right, Canada, roll up the rim is back! And Since I’m a fairly avid coffee drinker, I will be playing fairly often. It’s not like I will win anything anyway. Well, I’ll win something but it won’t be anything big. If I can keep on a winning streak and just win free coffee, I’ll be happy.

Roll up the rim is a semi annually event that occurs in Canada. It’s the time of year where Tim Horton’s becomes very busy because everyone wants to win big. There aren’t too many prizes available and the prizes aren’t that big. And there’s this whole other side to winning some of prize that had a lot of people confused. A while ago, if you won a car, you’re only winning a lease for the car and not an actual car but I think they fixed that issue.

Up for grabs this year is a chance to win thirty Toyota Camry Hybrid, one hundred Panasonic 42″ plasma television, ten thousand iPod Nanos, five hundred $1000 cash prizes, and over thirty million food prizes.

I wouldn’t mind winning one of the Toyota Camry. It would be a nice upgrade from my current Camry. The new Camry comes fully loaded with a whole bunch of features. My idea of fully loaded might be different from other people’s idea. What I think fully loaded means is that it comes with a CD player and air conditioning. That’s about all I need in a car. It’s not like I will need twenty inch spinners with racing tires or anything.

But the 42″ plasma television wouldn’t be bad either. Although, I don’t watch television much since I don’t have time for it, it would still be nice to have. I’ve seen some of them on displays and the image is very sharp and clear. Even with my bad eye sight, it looked as if I was right there. I don’t know if this particular mode is going to be just as good but if I win one, I will let you know.

If I won an iPod Nano, I would probably give it away. I don’t have much use for handheld music devices. If I am out of the house, I have music in the car. And if I am walking somewhere, I’m not walking far enough that I need music to keep me entertained.

As for the cash prize, that would come in handy right about now. It would be nice not to have to worry about money for a while. I am a little short on that for the time being. But the chances of me winning that is pretty slim. I have never won cash prizes before and I don’t think that I am lucky enough to start winning now. I might as well just save my money and stop buying coffee and I’ll have a better chance of gain cash.

The thing that I do manage to win a lot of is the food prizes although I haven’t had any luck yet. Last year, I kept winning a free coffee. And just not any free coffee, a large free coffee. I had always thought it was just a free medium coffee but they didn’t specify a size on the winning rim. One of the cashiers asked me what size I wanted so I thought she was a new worker or something. But as it turned out, you can select any size you want. I usually just tell her that I wanted a large because extra large is a bit too much.

Roll up the rim only started a couple of days ago so I doubt that Tim Horton’s is busy right now. Once words get out that it’s back, people are going to be flocking to the restaurant. I didn’t know it had started and it wasn’t advertised or anything. I found out because I usually grab a cup of coffee before going into work.

I’ve just realized tonight how broke I’ve become. I was pretty sure that I had my financial situation under control but it seems that I might have missed something. Usually when I say that I’m broke on pay day, I’m just kidding around. But this week, it’s no joke. And I came to realize that a little too late.

I haven’t eaten all day today so I wanted to stop by Subways to grab something. During the summer, I was on the Subway diet. I went to Subway for lunch every day. This was when I was working during regular business hours like most normal people. Every lunch hour, I would stop by and order the daily special. I didn’t care what it was because I was hungry and I didn’t want to spend too much on lunch. The daily special was $2.99 for a half an inch sub so I grabbed two of those and also bought a drink. It came out to somewhere around seven dollars.

When I started working later in the evening, I usually waited an hour before my shift ended to go get food. I was there every day around 10:00pm. I got to know the guy that was working that shift. Every time I went in, he would called me “sir” and I told him not to call me that. It was a little too formal and I am not a sir. I don’t think I’m even old enough to be called sir. I introduced myself to him in hopes that he would call me by my name rather than sir. I call other people sir too but usually, I’m sort of just joking around.

The guy’s a good kid. We had a lot in common and we had plenty of stuff to chit chat about. He was into computers, mainly playing Warcraft. When I first met him, he was just in high school. Now he’s in university taking a nursing course. He updated me on the status of that and informed me that his class will be entering the hospital to gain some practical experiences. So he’s doing pretty good so far. It’s always nice to hear that people are doing good.

Last night, I decided to drop by Subway before going into work. I had eaten all day and I don’t remember when the last time I ate either. I ordered a foot long sub, a drink and a soup. The total came out to eleven dollars and change. I didn’t have any cash on me so I used my debit card as usual.

The first attempt at the transaction failed. I assumed it failed because I had entered an invalid PIN. I recently had that changed so I might have entered my old PIN. I gave him back my debit card and we tried again. This time, I was pretty sure that I had punched in the correct PIN. When I looked at the error message, I saw that it said, “INSUFF” meaning that I didn’t have enough money in my account for this transaction.

Payday was last Friday and usually I save $100 in my cheque account. So there’s no way that I should be getting an insufficient fund message when attempt to make a transaction for eleven dollars. Subway didn’t accept credit cards so I had no way of paying for the purchase at the moment. Romeo, the guy that I’ve gotten to know over the months still recognized from earlier in the year so he offered to pay for it. I didn’t want to have to ask him to do that but he did it anyway. I paid him back a couple of hours later by making a cash advanced withdraw from my credit card. I didn’t want to have to do that but I didn’t want to owe the guy any money. I don’t know him that well so I shouldn’t be asking him for financial assistance.

I took a look at my online bank account to see where all the money went. It seemed that I made an over payment to my bills and I didn’t realize it. My chequing account was sitting at six dollars. It’s been at a lower amount before but usually that happens the day before pay day. It’s going to be a while before payday again so I’m going to have to manage on $6 until then. I don’t know how I’m going to manage that. Does anyone have any spare change?

A few days ago, I found an online test that will determine if you’re left or right brain dominated. Due to the fact that I’m a lefty, I knew that my right brained was the dominant of the two. But there are other characteristics about me that makes me unsure of that. Just because I’m a lefty doesn’t mean that my right brain controls everything.

I landed on someone’s blog back then but I forgot who or where it was. I’m pretty sure that it was a Canadian guy who lived in Toronto somewhere. You can take the test here if you’re curious about yourself. I’m not sure how accurate the test is but it was somewhat insightful. The test consisted of fifty four multiple choice statements. You select whether you often, sometimes, occasionally or rarely do the list of things they provide. All of that is submitted and you’re given a result.

According to my test, I am 50% left brained and 51% right brained which was what I thought in the first. I assumed that I was right brained because I was left handed but then again, I possess skills that were supposed to be more dominant in left brained people. I don’t know how it managed to calculate that extra 1% but maybe that just means I have 1% more brain the average person. Or maybe it means I have some sort of extra power locked away.

The test results summarizes the two sizes as follows:

You are more right-brained than left-brained. The right side of your brain controls the left side of your body. In addition to being known as right-brained, you are also known as a creative thinker who uses feeling and intuition to gather information. You retain this information through the use of images and patterns. You are able to visualize the “whole” picture first, and then work backwards to put the pieces together to create the “whole” picture. Your thought process can appear quite illogical and meandering. The problem-solving techniques that you use involve free association, which is often very innovative and creative. The routes taken to arrive at your conclusions are completely opposite to what a left-brained person would be accustomed. You probably find it easy to express yourself using art, dance, or music.

Your Right Brain Percentages
36% Fantasy-oriented
29% Intuitive
28% Concrete
18% Holistic
17% Random
13% Nonverbal

According to this summary, I don’t like to talk. But I think it’s geared towards brain usages. When I’m trying to solve a problem, I don’t talk. Some people like to think aloud but not me. All of my thought process goes on inside my head, which is probably why I tend to argue with myself. No, I don’t! Yes, I don’t! Sorry, moving along now.

I redid the test quickly to get the description for the other side of the brain.

You are more left-brained than right-brained. Your left brain controls the right side of your body. In addition to being known as left-brained, you are also known as a critical thinker who uses logic and sense to collect information. You are able to retain this information through the use of numbers, words, and symbols. You usually only see parts of the “whole” picture, but this is what guides you step-by-step in a logical manner to your conclusion. Concise words, numerical and written formulas and technological systems are often forms of expression for you.

Left Brain Percentages
60% Reality-based
27% Linear
25% Symbolic
22% Sequential
17% Logical
0% Verbal

Comparing the two results, it appears that I’m more “reality-based” than I am “fantasy-based.” What this means is that I use the rules and regulations of real life as a tool to process my information. This used for decision making because it helps me think about the pros and cons of my actions before I do it. But that is not always the case. The summary stated that I use my feelings and emotion to make my decisions. I find that very true because my feelings sometimes overrides my logic circuits.

I never really saw myself has right-brained dominated because I had traits that left-brained dominated people had. I’ve very logically when it comes to problem solving but I use the logic that a right-brained person would use. I add a touch of creativity to that logic to come up with a unique solution. You can see by my website that I’m fairly creative when it comes to design. Adding to that design are some functionality which requires programming. Programming requires a bit of logic. I’m glad that I’m getting a little bit of both sides of the brains. It has it advantages sometimes. But lately, I feel a little absent minded. I wonder why.

There is a thin line between right and wrong. Most of us have a conscience that will put up a flag if we do something ethically wrong. It causes us to feel guilty because what we’re doing isn’t right according to our standards. But what you might consider wrong, someone else might consider right. There’s that gray area where both answers have the potential to be correct.

A friend of mine wanted my opinion regarding a moral issue. He wanted to know if it was considered stealing if you took a bike that was just sitting there. This bike has been sitting at a bike rack for three weeks. There is nothing to prevent the bike from being taken because there’s no lock. Day after day, the bike sits there, untouched. There’s snow covering the seat and there hasn’t been anyone to remove the snow. If you decided to take the bike one day, would you be stealing it?

The way I see it, it would constitute as stealing because that bike once belonged to someone. Someone bought it from a store, assembled it and used it to get to where ever the bike rack is. Even though there isn’t a lock to keep it from being stolen, someone put it there in the first place. If you were to take something that belonged to someone else, you’re stealing. But anyone that leaves a bike unlocked and unattended is probably asking someone to steal their bike.

Let’s say we change the scenario a bit. What if the bike was in the middle of nowhere, just lying there on the ground? Finders keepers, right? Given the circumstances, I think so. But the circumstances are similar to that of the bike on the rack. Even though it’s just sitting there and asking to be taken, taking the bike would be stealing. But if the bike was in the middle of no where, it’s not stealing? This is where the situation enters that gray area when nothing matters. If you take the bike, it’s not stealing because there’s no one else there to claim it.

But what if we make a little change and instead of a bike, we find money, nothing too large of an amount. Let’s say we find $10 in the middle of the street. If you pick it up and stick it in your pocket, would that be considered stealing? First of all, it’s not your money to begin with. Just like the bike, the money was just sitting there asking to be taken. There’s possibly no way to find out who dropped it. I highly doubt someone would leave a $10 bill just sitting around and hope that it’ll still be there when they get back. In case, picking up the $10 and putting it in your pocket wouldn’t be considered stealing because there’s no one to claim it.

In order for you to steal something, you would have to take it without the owner’s consent. A bike park at a rack without a lock is pretty much the owner’s way of saying, “Please take my bike.” So the term “stealing” has a fairly broad definition. I believe that if the bike is sitting there at a public rack and doesn’t have a lock on it and you take it, you’re stealing the bike. But if the bike is in the middle of no where and you take it, then you’re not actually stealing.

So, I guess the difference between stealing something and finding something depends on how the act was performed. If you’re just walking around and you find $10 on the ground, it’s not that hard to just bend over and pick it up. If you see a bike parked at a rack and it doesn’t have a lock, it doesn’t take much to take it. If you had to use excess force to obtain something then maybe it would be considered stealing. But no matter what argument you come up with to categorize something as “stealing” there’s bound to be something that will defeat it.

No matter what your definition of stealing is, I just hope that you use enough common sense to recognize whether you’re committing a crime or not. Taking something that doesn’t belong you to is morally wrong no matter how you look at it. As the saying goes, “Finders keepers, losers weepers.” You’re the finder so you keep it but the person who lost it has no rights to claim it.

Females are a fascinating gender. It never ceases to amaze me the things that they are capable of doing. The flickering of their eyelashes, the pouting of their lips and the way their body sways is enough to get a guy fired up. I don’t know if it’s just our animal instincts but something in us guys is triggered when we see a girl.

They say that “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” but beauty comes in all shapes and sizes. Everyone out there has their own definition of beauty. My meaning of beauty could vary significantly from your definition of the word. The way I see it, a girl doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful.

Beauty isn’t just what’s on the outside. It goes beyond the skin. There’s that thing called “inner beauty” where the girl is beautiful on the inside. People take that term too literally. It doesn’t mean that their inner organs are a site for sore eyes. I think it means their personality. There are some girls that are attractive because of their behaviour. The physical attraction helps by getting them noticed but it’s not until you get to know the other person that you feel a strong attraction.

But not all girls are confident in their appearance so they look to cosmetics. All that the make up does is hide their natural beauty. I find that girls who tend to wear a lot of make up aren’t as attractive when all of it comes off. Back in college, there was one girl in my class that wore a lot of make up. I was over at her house one night and she didn’t have any on. Her first words to me were, “I know, I look terrible.” I told her that she looked fine. But it seemed like the only thing that she was able to focus on was her appearance without make up. I could sense that she was a little bit insecure with the way she looked but I assured her that she didn’t have to be.

Some girls might even become a little insecure when it comes to aging. They see aging as a sign of getting less beautiful because they’ll start to develop wrinkles and they hair will go gray. I wouldn’t blame them. If you take a look at all the advertisements that are in magazines and on television, you’ll probably notice that there aren’t too many people over a certain age. In my GQ magazines, most of the models are younger than the age of thirty. If a woman in her fifties was to look through this magazine, I’d understand why she would start feeling insecure about herself with every turn of the page.

There’s more to aging than the physical aspect. I came to a realize a while ago, that the older you get, the richer your life becomes. As you grow older, you gain a lot of experiences and a wealth of knowledge. And beauty doesn’t go away with aging and women shouldn’t think that way. Michelle Pfeiffer is close to being fifty and she’s still as hot as when I first saw her in the “Batman Returns” movie. What’s not sexy about a skin tight leather cat suit? Meow!

When I was younger, I never quite understood the reason why we weren’t allowed to ask an older woman what her age was. It was considered to be socially unacceptable and rude if you were to ask. There’s nothing wrong with telling people your age. You should be embracing the fact that you’ve gained all this life experience. Most of the models these days are somewhere in their twenties. How much do they know compared to someone in their fifties?

There are some guys out there that likes older women because they’re more “experienced.” I recall a documentary on TLC about guys my age going after women who were twice their age. I forgot exactly why they went for someone older but I think one of the guys said that he didn’t care about the age difference. He met this older woman and things clicked and that was all that mattered to them.

Most people are starting to look beyond the appearance. No matter how a person looks on the outside, there is something about them that will catch the attention of an onlooker. I’ve seen couples around town that looks as if they’re total opposite. They say that opposites attract but that all depends on the person. The attraction between two people is hard to guess. Two people can hate each other during their high school days and then get married later in the future. People don’t really care too much about what makes them different. They know that their blood starts pumping when they’re around the other person and that gets the brain ticking. The rest is history.