Oh, Sony…

Thanks a Bunch!

Lately, I have been the recipient of excellent customer service from various places. Whether it’s a deal on a video card, or a faulty DVD box set that was replaced for free, or even a replaced sippy cup for little J by a wonderful company, it’s been a great week.

I’m don’t usually rock the boat unless it is for a good reason.

A few weeks ago, I spilled pop all over my Sony Headphones (Shatton calls it The Fanta Menace), so I bought a replacement from Future Shop.

The sales person recommended these due to my query about headphones that are good for running. In theory, the pair that I bought would be great. However, the earbuds are somewhat large, so they tend to fall out even when I walking.

I emailed Sony’s customer support to find out what I could do about it (I wasn’t looking to replace them. I thought that perhaps there was a way to configure the harness to make it a bit more snug). They contacted me shortly after my request, informing me that the headphones (by default) ship with the medium size earbuds and if I wanted to replace them with small or large buds, I would have to pay.

Excuse me?

There is no option in the store to buy anything other than the standard size earbuds. The default size (medium) is pretty large (I have big ears, so I can only imagine how well these would fit smaller-eared people).

So thank you, Sony. Thank you for making a product that requires people to purchase an extra part for them to work properly.

I Said No, No, No!

Apropos

Before I get to the one line that will either make you laugh or make you angry, I just wanted to say something.

I like Amy Winehouse’s music. I don’t like Amy Winehouse’s behaviour.

We live in a society that has to constantly pat itself on the back for things that already have succeeded beyond measure. We reward the wrong things.

That being said…

Am I the only one who gets a kick out of the fact that Amy Winehouse won five Grammys?

I wonder if they’re up her nose yet?

For the Librarians: The Do-Wii Decimal System

The Good

My friend Rebecca came over yesterday for dinner and some Wii-ing.

I met her through Dave’s blog, in the comments section. She was in town a while ago for a convention and we went for coffee.

I suggested she come over for dinner and so that’s what we did.

After dinner we played some Wii games.

Needless to say, my ass was handed to me on a silver platter in Wii Tennis.

The Bad and Ugly

I used to give spare change to homeless people.

That is, until I gave one a generous sum and then saw him walking into an LCBO later that day.

Do you think it’s wrong of me not to give spare change out anymore?

Energy Stamp

All the Energy You Want, Now With Less Feline Retinal Degredation!

The other day I was standing in one of our Subway stations, looking at some of the new posters on the wall across the tracks touting a new energy drink.

Energy drinks always make me laugh because they don’t really work for me. Certainly things like Gatorade and Powerade help restore electrolyte balance, which is great after a strenuous, sweaty workout.

But for the most part, energy drinks just make me want to pee a lot.

I haven’t actually tried the product in these recent ads. I doubt I will, as I have better things to drink (like beer).

If I really want to know how good it is, though, I’ll just ask my cats.

I have a feeling that there are eyebrows being raised at the previous line.

One of the ingredients displayed across the top of the can (proudly, I would assume) is Taurine.

The discovery and isolation of this “amino acid” is documented here, and although the source for energy drinks is not the typical one, it may still make you think about what you’re drinking.

Taurine is an important ingredient in cat food, as it prevents central retinal degredation.

The value of Taurine in energy drinks as an “energy giver” is in question. Studies have shown, though, that it may have a hand in reducing muscle fatigue.

Either way, though, I will probably not bother with it, as my eyes are decidedly not feline.

This Article Has Been Deemed 100% Awesome by Me

Another advertisement-related blurb.

Are people really so gullible as to believe that a product endorsed by it’s own manufacturer is actually better than one that is not?

Certainly all maunfacturers endorse their products. Why wouldn’t they?

But you have to laugh when you see things like Product X proudly bears the Product X seal of approval, or Product Y has been proclaimed excellent by the makers of Product Y.

We should all walk around talking about how awesome we are and see how long it takes for someone to smack us in the mouth for being idiots.

Lemme ‘Splain. No. Too Long. Lemme Summup.

The Year in Review

I suppose that at some point before the calendar page turns each of us should look back and take stock of what has transpired over the last twelve months. It’s not always an easy thing to do. Most things that we don’t need to do are difficult.

Some of us human beings are preoccupied with keeping score. Trying to make sure that we come out on top.

Interestingly enough, if we want to come out on top, we always will. We always have the option of eclipsing the bad with the good if we like. Of course, this can also work in reverse.

There are those among us who never deal with the negative things that they have done (especially to others). These people coast through life wreaking havoc, never stopping to clean up the messes that they leave.

I think it takes more strength to look back on the bad things and see what benefit you can gain from something that possibly took a chunk out of you.

I had originally written a long post about my trials and tribulations this year. After reading it for the nth time, I came to the decision to delete it.

It sounded too whiny. Too negative. The whole point was to try and find the positives in the bad things that happened. But there weren’t enough solutions.

So I’m going to keep it to myself. My own list of things to work on. Inevitably I can see a lot of you trying to put forth pep-talks and such. But I don’t really need those. What I need to do is take care of my own list by myself (maybe with a little help from my friends).

So in place of my giant article, I offer up this vague list to sum up my year…

• Exercise disappointment
• 24-Hour Movie Marathon goodness
• Unspeakable loss
• Great times with friends
• Visiting our treasure in the South
• A pleasant surprise
• Unreasonable fears
• Energy renewed
• Another loss
• A visit from our treasure from the South
• A house
• Hitting my wall for the first time in a long time
• Coming up with a plan to overcome the wall
• Making a new, very great friend
• Counting myself lucky to have solid friendships

Trust me, you would have fallen asleep at the original post.