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Jan
25
Delivering the goods
Filed Under Life | Leave a Comment
We’ve recently purchased a package of white goods and discovered how inefficient some companies can be.
After a year of holding off we finally bit the bullet and ordered a new fridge, cooker (stove/range) and dish washer. The whole process really highlighted some of the differences between purchasing these types of goods in Canada and in the UK. Boring, I hear you say, but bear with me.
As a corporate eco-warrior part of my brief when looking for white goods concerns energy efficiency and water consumption. The Energy Star label in North America makes it relatively easy to identify more efficient appliances, however, there’s still a need to actually check the probable energy use as similar appliances can be a couple of hundred KWh apart in terms of annual electricity consumption, yet still both have the Energy Star label. Walking down an aisle looking at the A-G ratings in Comet seemed much easier. As for water consumption, don’t even try and identify how much will be used, and the sales staff just give you a blank “Why on earth would you ask that” look if you ask the consumption question.
Back from the digression. Having made the selections it was time to start the horse trading. What reduction could I negotiate. The answer was not paying for delivery, and that was fine as it saved $100. I even agreed to wait for the cooker to come back in stock and have all the appliances delivered in one go. Easy. Or so I thought. I received a call from the Brick delivery folks advising me that my fridge was ready for delivery. “But what about the stove and dish washer?” “They’re not in stock, we’ll call you when they are.” I’d like to take delivery of all 3 appliances at once please.” The response was along the lines of there’s only 2 fridges left, if we don’t deliver it you could lose it. Reluctantly I agreed to have the single item delivered.
On the day of delivery I received a call from the Brick delivery folks. “We have your stove in stock and would like to arrange a delivery.” “That’s good, I have a fridge being delivered today so……” “I’m sorry, we can’t do it today the earliest is…..” “Okay, I have a dishwasher as well, can the stove wait until…..” You know what’s coming!
So, having negotiated away the delivery fee I’m now taking 3 separate deliveries of appliances. I can’t help feeling that that’s somewhat inefficient and probably adds to the running costs of the Brick. Oh, wait, they charge for delivery, so that’s okay then.
I love being in this country, however, it’s these little things that trip me up from time to time. Inefficient, well, yes, I think so.
Aug
11
Despite being a blood donor in the UK for many years, Canada doesn’t want my blood.
In 1999 Canada decided not to accept blood from potential donors that had spent more more than 3 months in the UK since 1980 due to the unproven possibility of variant CJD being transmitted through donations. This precautionary approach was also applied to France and other Western European countries.
The blanket ban on Western European blood has been reviewed and renewed several times since the original decision was made and in 2004 a statement was made after a second possible transmission of vCJD was reported in the UK. [It seems that there has been at least 4 possible cases of transmission through transfusion up to 2008]
The Canadian Blood Services current information is that no donations are accepted from people meeting the criteria on their indefinite deferrals list.
Since 1997, the Public Health Agency of Canada has reported some 971 referrals for suspected vCJD with the UK reporting 2500 referrals since 1990 (which would include the transmission through transfusion cases). The figures do not seem to me to be significantly higher, especially when one considers the UK population is almost twice that of Canada.
So, I can understand why the precautionary principle has been adopted but it still leaves me feeling annoyed that despite what appears to be a very, very small risk, the blanket ban remains and I cannot give blood. Obviously I would not want anyone to be infected with vCJD, but I wonder what the odds of being infected with vCJD are next to, for example, being involved in a car crash?
Apr
17
After months of trying to crack both the local job market and consulting market I finally resorted to my transferable skills to try and generate some regular income. But not for long.
A difficult decision had to be made after a huge disappointment. A 3-4 month contract that I’d been offered verbally last November was given to someone else as a full time role at the end of January. Regular income was needed and it was time to consider the what else can i do question. Fortunately, the Brit ex-pat network came to my aid and I managed to get an in with a local insurance company. Al I had to do was to pass my Level 1 exam and get licensed. Despite having a course recommended to me I decided to take the least cost option which was buy the notes, read them and take the exam. So, 2 weeks of reading later I sat the Level 1 exam and passed first go, clearing the 70% pass mark bar with relative ease. I was licensed to insure.
So, at the start of March I began working for a local broker in North Vancouver. This was not without its logistical difficulties as it meant a journey that was at worst, bus – Skytrain – Seabus – bus or at best, bus – Skytrain – bus. Come what may I was looking at 90 minutes travel time each way.
The people working in the office were friendly and helpful and in some ways it was good to be back in such an environment. I was getting up to speed quickly, as I should with a $12/hr position, and income was flowing, well, trickling really.
Since coming to Canada I’ve never written off my environmental skills and have kept faith that sooner or later my faith would be rewarded. What I wasn’t reckoning on was the swift change in fortunes.
At the tail end of last year I applied for a job with the BC Lotteries Corporation, bclc. Unfortunately the job went on hold, I was told until Spring/Summer. Around 10 days in to my new career I received notification that the bclc post was off hold and if I was still interested, bclc would like to telephone interview me the following week. A very good friend said to me in the past that one should always be researching one’s next position//project. So, I accepted the interview, was short-listed for round 2 and attended a face-to-face interview the following week. The great thing is that both interviews were out of working hours so that I could continue masquerading as an insurance agent whilst following up the opportunity.
Cutting things short, I was invited to meet one of the VP’s at bclc’s headquarters in Kamloops a few days later. Unless I broke wind at the wrong time, I was in. But, another hurdle needed to be negotiated, I was due to be working the day I was invited to Kamloops (which is around 200 miles from where I live). So, deep breath and I resigned my insurance job before absolutely knowing that the bclc post was mine.
As it turned out, everything was fine. I was offered the job and I take up the role of Environmental Sustainability Specialist with bclc in May.
Oh, and my journey to Kamloops was pretty spectacular as I flew across the coastal mountains with Pacific Coastal Airlines. Four passengers in a 19 seater on the outward journey, three passengers in an 11 seater for the return flight. More pics are on Facebook.
Apr
16
Rip off Canada
Filed Under Cars, Life | Leave a Comment
We recently had an issue with a door mirror on the car which led to a perfect example of how “rip off Britain” can be equalled by “rip off Canada”.
Unfortunately, whilst backing out of the garage, a door mirror was snapped from it’s mounting by someone other than myself. The car, a Ford Focus, has exceptionally cheap door mirrors in the North American market. Whereas the Euro models come with a hinged fitting, locally, the door mirrors are just mounted in a single moulded piece of plastic, which of course makes them very vulnerable to any impact.
So, what would be the cost of a replacement fitting? It was time to trawl the web. Surprisingly, most of the on-line sources were from south of the border. However, with a price of $40 US, I wasn’t complaining, even after the exchange rate adjustments.
I then thought that I may as well try a local scrap yard as the prices for used parts must be even better. Imagine the shock of being told that a used door mirror would set me back the princely sum of $125 Canadian. The guy at Ralph’s wasn’t bothered that I could source them on line for around a third of the price – take it or leave it.
Having recovered from the shock I wondered what the price of a new part would be so I phoned my local Ford dealer. A brand new item would be around $175 including taxes. The used fitting from Ralph’s was obviously a bargain!
Time to head back to the virtual world. Things became a little more awkward at this point. A number of suppliers south of the border would not ship international, so no delivery to Canada. I did find a couple of places that had a work around that doubled the price, however, it would still be less than buying used from a scrap yard.
How about Canadian on-line suppliers? Having got fed up being on hold for ages and only getting through to voice mail I finally spoke to a person at one supplier who advised that the mirror would have to come from their US warehouse and would be $111 US. So, that would be $111 for the $40 part then. Great.
Hmm, back to the drawing board. I then thought about checking out UK suppliers as the replacement fitting would be hinged, but I then remembered that the concave/convex issue would mean the mirrors would be the wrong way around. Ah, we have friends in Germany, maybe that would be the way to resolve the problem – right mirrors and hinged. Prices were certainly higher than the US part, but still not as expensive as Canada.
In the end and despite thinking it wouldn’t work the damaged fitting was super-glued back together and amazingly enough it’s holding out. Should I need to replace the part, I’ll probably head south for the day as I can probably still save money even after fuel, food etc.
So, Canadian consumers, why are you letting yourselves be ripped off like this?
Jan
14
My Credit Card has been skimmed and I’m trying to figure out if I feel personally violated. I’m also thinking about what I could have done to prevent the skimming and what I need to do to protect my card from here on in.
Despite me being very careful with my card, a copy has been made and someone has been on a spending spree to the tune of $2-3,000. However my bank noticed the questionable transactions very quickly as they were all on the opposite side of the country, in Ontario. More importantly I’m not financially liable for fraud.
So, do I feel violated? Around 15 years ago I had my wallet stolen from a zipped coat pocket that was on the back of a chair whilst I was at a motorway service area. That was the first and only time I’ve suffered that kind of robbery and it didn’t feel good. When you add in the hassle of cancelling cards, changing bank accounts etc the whole theft thing becomes very time consuming as well as leaving a feeling of having one’s personal space invaded. Something personal had been taken without my knowledge.
This time it’s different. I still had possession of the card, nothing had been taken from me, except in some ways, part of my identity. Someone was using my name to make fraudulent purchases. In some ways that’s the thing that bites, the thought of my name being used for criminal purposes. That’s where I feel violated.
Could it be prevented?
The thing that’s really irritating is that the UK introduced chip and pin to credit cards nearly three years ago and the same system is only just starting to roll out in Canada. Chip and pin would probably have prevented the fraudulent transactions on my duplicated card as the user would not have my PIN. Okay, unrelated, but banks out here routinely apply account charges, do not offer interest on current/chequing accounts and cheques still seem to be widely used. I guess that the cost of fraud has to be recouped from somewhere and that generally means the customer. In other words, I have issues with the Canadian banking system as it seems somewhat lagging the UK standards for security. However, it’s all I’ve got to work with and so it’s one of those culture shock things that immigrants must go through.
Mind you, it even seems that chip and pin security can be compromised as this article in the Telegraph discusses. Having said that, the scam was a highly organised crime.
What can you do about card fraud?
What can be done to minimise the risk of having your card skimmed? Simply keep it in sight during personal transactions. I can only think of 2 instances over the last 6 months where I let my card be taken away to process and that may have been my downfall. Other things such as actually checking statements can help identify issues, but to me the best form of security is keeping the card in sight. Okay, online transactions are another matter and all I can add there is make sure that you’re on a secure site before punching in those valuable card details and of course, keep your PC malware free, especially windoze machines.
If you want more information on how to minimise the risk of card fraud, visit the Canadian Bankers Association.
Learn from my experience, not your own
What have I learnt from the experience? Well, despite being careful, it would seem that I haven’t been careful enough. The new card will not be leaving my view when transactions are made.
Jan
7
Ducati GT1000
Filed Under Life, Travel | 4 Comments
Despite me having the Ducati GT1000 for over 6 months I’ve not previously posted a pic of my summer cruise machine. So, here it is.
I’m not a hardened biker by any stretch of the imagination and how I ended up on a bike after many years of being a car only person is a bit of a story.
My only real experience of being on a bike came in my mid-late teens when I was a passenger on a friends bike a few times (a 250cc) and also had a go on another friends 50cc. To be honest I preferred having a car as I enjoyed comfort and music to the elements.
Fast forward to around 2002. As a one car family I was getting fed up walking and cycling around Maidstone where I lived at the time as Lesley used the car for work. Chatting with a friend brought up the idea of investing in a scooter for running around locally. Great idea! I decided to go for it and after some cursory research knew that the Peugeot Speedflight was the scooter for me. What I didn’t do was investigate the restrictions placed upon ‘new’ riders. As an existing car license holder I was able to ride a 50cc scooter around without taking a test, however I’d decided to go for the 100cc version of the scooter and this meant passing my provisional bike license theory test and taking compulsory training before I could even ride the bike and then, horror of horrors I had to run around with an ‘L’ plate.
I dutifully passed my theory and CBT and was able to buzz around Maidstone, and very enjoyable it was too. One nagging thought remained though. I was far too old to have ‘L’ plates. I would have to pass my full bike test to rid myself of the offending big red letter, but how?
I discovered CSN motorcycle training in Rochester and booked on to a short course on geared bikes to avoid being restricted to scooters (just in case). I decided to take the short course which would restrict me to a 33bhp machine for 2 years which wasn’t an issue as I was only riding a scooter. So, after a couple of challenging days on a geared 125cc I passed my bike test – the red L was no more.
It turned out to be a good decision to go for a geared bike test as less than a year later I needed to take the cheap commuting option which meant investing in a bike that would take for over 40 mph. I ended up with a Yamaha Diversion, a classic commuter bike. However, it was a 600cc machine packing somewhat more than the 33bhp restriction. The nice guys where I bought the bike provided me with a certificate of restriction, although the bike was left as was. This wasn’t due to me setting out to flaunt the law, the dealer simply thought that I’d be a careful rider as I wasn’t exactly in my youth. Correct. I am not a big risk taker on a bike. The bike eventually went after I changed jobs and went back to car ownership, but I have to admit that I enjoyed the fresh air freedom (in good weather) that bike ownership offered.
Fast forward to 2007 and I became a bike owner again. Yes, I had to retake my bike license again which meant theory, practical training and a full road test for a second time, just like with the car license. It was worth it as the summer was pretty good which gave me the chance to get out and reacquaint myself with biking. Why? Well, I have an aim to ride the west coast from Vancouver to, probably, San Diego within a couple of years and the Ducati is the bike for me to do it on. Okay, it’ll not be a Long Way Round or Long Way Down adventure, but it’ll be my adventure.
Watch this space.
Jan
6
New year, new challenge
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Yes it’s been a long time. Yes, I said I would be more diligent with my blogging and no, I haven’t been anything like diligent.
However, it’s a new year and rather than make daft resolutions and promises to blog more frequently let’s just say that I’ll try.
Rather than dwell on what’s been I’d rather look forward to what is likely to be a very challenging year. I’ve decided to finish my MSc in Environmental Decision Making by completing a research project and dissertation. It’s something that’s been on hold since my first redundancy, back in 03, so I thought it high time that I kicked the grey matter back in to action. I have to admit to being both excited and rather terrified as I set out on this journey as I’ve not studied to this depth in the past. Having said that, once finished it’ll be the icing on the academic cake, so I’m giving it a real good go.
Back to the lack of blogging. I’m also trying out a neat application, ecto to try and make getting blog entries up easier as there’s no need to log in to my site to prepare posts. Again, we’ll see how it goes.
I’m not going to write anything on the amount of snow that the Lower Mainland has suffered over the last fortnight (at least 3ft) as it’s been well recorded and Lesley has some great pics over on her Picasa site so check out this set and this set.
So, a slightly belated Happy New Year to everyone and keep checking back.
