Shell Game

Yesterday morning, my brother and I were passing through Edmonton on our way to Saskatoon after spending the night in nearby Stoney Plain. We needed to buy some gas. He's also particular about what gas goes in his truck. So, we fired up his truck's trusty GPS, browsed the nearby gas stations and asked for directions to the Chevron. It directed us there fine, except that it was a Commercial Cardlock only so it was of no use to us. And, apparently, the nearest Chevron was over 200 km away. I guess they never expanded much into Alberta.

So, on to his second choice—Shell. Nicely enough, it indicated that the nearest Shell gas station was very close. We should have been able to see it from where we were. I was suspicious since I couldn't see one, but we followed the directions anyway and found some offices. There were large tanks outside so it might have been a gas company's office, but it wasn't anywhere we could buy gas.

On to the next closest Shell listed in the GPS. We saw what looked like at one point was a gas station, but it had closed down some time ago.

Oh well, maybe third time's the charm. We followed the directions perfectly and ended up in the middle of an old residential area. One of those ones where all the houses are at least 50 years old and it was obvious there had never been a gas station there, nor was there likely to ever be one. How puzzling.

When browsing the gas station list once again, my brother noticed a listing labeled “Select.” That happens to be the name of the convenience store inside Shell stations so we decided to give that a try. Sure enough, it finally directed us to an actual, real life Shell. We filled up his massive 120L tank and continued our trip.

A few hours later, while approaching Lloydminster, we decided it would be prudent to top up the tank so we wouldn't need to fill up at all in Saskatchewan where gas is more expensive than in Alberta. We really didn't need to use the GPS since all the gas stations are right along the highway, but we decided to try it just for the fun of it. Still no Chevrons listed, but we asked for directions to the Shell. Well we found the Shell easily enough, but the GPS was indicating it was still another block or two ahead. And when we got to the place where it said it was, there was a small office tower.

We figured it must have been Shell's problem, since the only time the GPS steered us wrong was searching for Shell gas stations. Someone could excuse one listing being incorrect, particularly the one where it was obvious it was a Shell at some point, but every single one we checked??? Not good. I think whoever's job at the company involved passing data along to the GPS manufacturers might need to consider a change in occupations...

Sugar Contains Sugar

This afternoon while at work, I for whatever reason picked up the box of sugar cubes in the lunch room and looked at the nutrition facts on the bottom. Well, to my immense surprise (not!), apparently a 4g sugar cube contains... 4g of sugar! And that reminded me of the time I looked at the nutrition info listed on a bottle of water - 0 calories, 0g fat, 0mg sodium, 0mg cholesterol, 0g carbohydrates, and 0g protein. Seems like a waste of space on the label. Who doesn't know that plain old water contains none of that? Fancy flavoured water, perhaps, but not the normal stuff. But I guess they're legally required to have that there.

But even more of a waste of space was the back of this cereal box I saw one day while doing grocery shopping. This isn't a picture of part of the box. This was the entire back panel. It sure seems funny to me that someone even felt the need to tell people that a higher percentage means more... Especially since, in addition to the percentages, they also list the quantity as well. I'd hate to meet the person who honestly can't figure out that something containing 10g of fibre has more fibre than another food that has 5g.

Consistency is key. Or is it?

I like consistency, especially when it comes to having things that match. In particular, DVD cases. It always really annoyed me that, of all six Star Wars DVDs, only Episode 3 has a bilingual cover and as such, the logo/title on the spine don't match the other cases (fortunately, that should no longer be an issue once I receive the Star Wars Blu-ray box set I've preordered). I've even gone as far as not buying the fourth Shrek movie because I want to buy it on Blu-ray now that I have a Blu-ray player, but I own the first three on DVD. I'm holding out for a sale on the Blu-ray box set so I can get the fourth movie and upgrade the others for cheap at the same time.

But what really has me scratching my head about how to proceed are TV shows. While I do really value consistency, I also value cost-effectiveness. My choice of whether I should buy a show on DVD or online through the iTunes Store is mainly based on cost. While some shows end up being more expensive through iTunes, many are cheaper, assuming I don't find a great sale on the DVDs somewhere.

And therein lies the problem. There are a few shows I've started watching over the past year that I checked out because I found season one on sale for a great price and it looked like an interesting show. Now that I'm getting closer to finishing those seasons, what do I do about season two? It's cheaper to buy the next season on iTunes, even compared to the current sales that are on at the moment. But if I hold on for a few more months, it's possible that an even better sale will come up on the DVDs that's as good as when I bought the first season. Or maybe I'll just end up waiting and waiting for a price point that never appears. So I may as well just buy it from iTunes instead. However, the old “consistency” argument rears its head—it doesn't seem right to own both seasons and not have two boxes on the shelf! It needs to be either all on DVD, or all as digital downloads.

But then again, does it really matter? It's not like those cases on the shelf are anything more than decoration anyway. I simply load all the episodes into my computer and watch them using my AppleTV, and the DVDs just sit there looking pretty unless someone wants to borrow them from me or I find a need to re-rip it for any reason. And when I think about it, there's no real reason for me to even be worrying about such things yet anyway. I still have seven episodes each remaining of both shows in question, and since I've been taking my time watching them I probably won't even be needing the next seasons for a few months anyway... Maybe I'll luck out and stumble across a great sale price in the meantime after all.

Hello. Do I know you?

While I was out for a little bit, I heard someone say, “Hi, Mike!” I smiled and responded, “Hello,” and we both kept on walking in our different directions. I was glad he didn't stop to engage in conversation, as I had no idea who he was. But obviously he knew who I was since he greeted me by name. Sometimes I recognize the face and I know that I've met the person in question before, but I just don't know where, and can't put a name to the face.

But not this time. I didn't recognize the voice or the face. Maybe it's someone who was given a tour of the office one time? Could be. People are occasionally shown around and introduced to me, but I've usually forgotten their names before they even leave the room, and their faces vanish from memory soon after. Or maybe he was from church. I've never liked the “Okay, everyone turn around and greet people” thing, which seems to be like there's an 11^th Commandment that all churches must do it at some point in the service. Maybe several months back he shook my hand and introduced himself and I told him my name in return. And of course, I would have forgotten his name and face moments later, but he's one of those people who never forgets anyone they meet.

I remember a situation several years ago where I ended up having a conversation with someone I ran into somewhere. She knew me, but I didn't have the foggiest idea who she was. It's pretty awkward trying to converse with someone and making it sound like you know them, while hoping they say something in the course of the conversation to trigger a memory as to their identity. That's why I'll never greet anyone I bump into somewhere that I think I recognize unless we know each other well enough that there's no doubt that both of us know who the other is. Not to mention that if we don't know each other that well I probably wouldn't have anything to say so I wouldn't have a reason to even start a conversation...

Yes, I Consider Myself Canadian

Cartoonist Charles M. Schultz once said, “I love mankind; It's people I can't stand.” If I can reword and personalize it a bit, I'd say, “I don't mind hockey; It's the obnoxious fans I can't stand.” Seriously. What is it about hockey that makes people act totally obnoxious and inconsiderate?

Bin There, Done That

Storage bins are amazing things. How is it that a pile of stuff sitting there looks cluttered and disorganized, but if that same pile of stuff is put inside a bin, even a clear plastic one, it suddenly transforms into something neat and orderly? Who cares about the iPad, I think the real “magical and revolutionary device” is the Rubbermaid bin.