Airlines Will Soon Be Charging Us to Use the Toilet

… the mask will drop down. Please put your own mask on and pay for your oxygen with a major credit card before assisting others with their transaction.

Blazek

Once upon a time in a galaxy far, far away, air travel used to be fun. Then the airline industry was taken over by the evil empire and now it’s the ultimate indignity. In order to realize the maximum profits possible they cram so many seats into a plane that even a shrimp like me who’s 5 feet tall has no legroom. How does a normal size person contract and contort themselves into a shape that allows them to be seated in so tiny a space? And, no one over the age of two should ever have to sit in the middle seat. God forbid anyone reclines their seat; they could be compressing your ribcage and cutting off your oxygen.

How much does a plane ticket cost? Who knows??? The quoted fare only tells part of the story. By the time you add the cost of pre-booking a seat (per leg) and the cost of checked baggage (by piece, volume and weight per leg) the cost of your ticket, which may have seemed like a bargain, is now an outrage.

Check in is usually 3 hours before boarding because of the security hoops they have us jumping through. Take off your shoes, belt, metal jewelry, empty your pockets, take your computer out of your bag… You can’t take any fluids over 3 ounces in the cabin so you have to repackage skin care products, sun screen, hair care products, etc. You can’t take mini scissors, tweezers, knitting needles, crochet hooks, etc. onboard because apparently they’ve been declared dangerous weapons. Then how do terrorists get on board with box cutters when grannies across the land have to surrender their knitting needles?

Onboard service is an oxymoron in term. If you’re lucky you can get coffee, tea, non-alcoholic beverages and snacks (but no longer the smoked almonds everyone loved in case one person on your flight has a nut allergy and is stupid enough to eat the nuts). Meal service no longer exists on most flights but they will sell you a plastic sandwich for a ridiculous price. In flight entertainment may now only be a Wifi connection, so come equipped with your own entertainment.

Still, we have no choice but to fly to certain destinations, so we accept being treated like cattle while paying princely sums. What’s wrong with this picture???

Airlines have now banned tweezers. Personally I believe that anyone that can hijack a plane with tweezers deserves the plane.

Kappit

Make someone smile today.

Geri

Canadians Are Being Held Hostage By Cell Phone Providers

People are prisoners of their phones. That’s why they’re called cell phones.

SpiritScience

In Canada we unfortunately have almost no options when it comes to cell phone providers. If we want full coverage coast to coast then we have to use Bell, Rogers or Telus. All of the smaller players are at the mercy of the Big 3 (a cartel sanctioned and enabled by the CRTC) who grant them the minimum access allowed under the law. And you guessed it; the law is the CRTC. This explains why our cell phone bills are among the highest in the world.

I had a recent incident with my cell phone provider – one of the Big 3 – that had steam coming out of my ears! I’m on a two-year plan and it’s a loyalty plan. I’ve discovered that means I’m loyal to them; they’re not loyal to me. The cost of a plan during a contracted period is, or should be fixed. Much to my surprise last month my plan went up $5. I got my hostage taker on the phone and demanded to know why my plan had been hijacked while I’m on contract. They decided to raise one of my features (unlimited long distance to the U.S.) from $15 - $20 a month. At a time when long distance prices are coming down dramatically or disappearing with the ability to call over WiFi, it boggles the mind that not only did they tamper with my contract but they had the unmitigated gall to raise this option by $5. This is out and outright thievery!

In a less than congenial fashion I told them exactly what I thought of them and informed them that if they didn’t remove the charge immediately from this bill and from future bills that I was cancelling my plan and going to one of the other cartel members. Of course they credited my account immediately; but that really isn’t the point. The point is that they do anything they want and get away with it. And we have no options. In the U.S. almost every major cell phone provider offers WiFi calling which allows for FREE long distance as long as you make calls on WiFi. Here these Canadian bandits are raising cell phone long distance and do not offer WiFi calling North America wide. What recourse do we have? NONE! Canada, we are screwed when it comes to cell phone plans in general and cell phone long distance. If we want or need full coverage then we’re stuck with the cartel which makes us all hostages of a rigged system.

Today’s generation will never know the satisfaction of slamming down the phone during an angry hang up!

geezerplanet

Make someone smile today.

Geri

The Dirty Little Secret About Corporate Culture

The most ineffective workers are systematically moved to the place where they can do the least damage: management.

 Scott Adams (Dilbert)

The two most overused words these days are corporate culture. Every second business article is about corporate culture. Some people have nothing else to do but make lists that rate companies according to their corporate culture. Head hunters use corporate culture as a selling feature to candidates. The dirty little secret is that corporate culture is all hype and smoke and mirrors; or in corporate speak – it’s all about the optics.

Do you really think that these major national or international companies care about you? All you are is a number that equates with a dollar value. If they need to reduce dollars you’ll be right-sized or down-sized (whatever is the politically correct term these days for getting laid off). And, more often than not, the decision on who gets let go is politically motivated. Very recently an acquaintance of mine, who is the top producer in her department (in addition to being well liked and well respected) was let go. She was in a state of shock because she foolishly believed that being the top producer year over year earned her a “get out of jail free card.” Sadly what she didn’t take into account was the political back biting that goes on with these types of decisions.

Corporations are bursting at the seams with layers of ineffective, incompetent (or worse) managers. Most of these people, who have risen to their own level of incompetence, will never be the ones let go because it would cost too much to get rid of them, they’re diversity hires or there is nepotism involved.

The reality is that the quality of your corporate experience has nothing what-so-ever to do with the corporate culture B-S that you’re being fed (and expected to buy into). It has everything to do with your manager. It’s simple:

Great Manager = Great Corporate Experience

Lousy Manager = Lousy Corporate Experience

If you’re interviewing for a job or looking to move up in your present company, research the manager. He/she will make or break your experience and have a significant impact on your career. I’ve had the best corporate experience and the worst corporate experience at the same company. And right now I’m happy to say that I have a great manager!

At work don’t say load of bullshit. Say amalgamation of bovine fecal matter. Big words will get you that promotion.

Someecards

Make someone smile today.

Geri

I Hate Turning the Clock Back!

Don’t forget to turn back your clock. I’m going to turn mine back to when I was 20.

Maxine

On Sunday, November 6 at 2am we turn the clocks back one hour. That’s when I officially become a mole. “Falling back” strips me of my precious daylight hours. My office is a 45 minute walk and I typically leave at 7am. It’s a wonderful way to start the day but now that summer’s over, sadly my walk takes place predominantly in darkness. But, when I leave the office at around 4:30pm I enjoy a lovely walk home in daylight. This pleasure of life will be snatched from me as soon as we turn the clocks back on November 6.

Why do we spring ahead and fall back? There’s some interesting lore surrounding the time changes:

• Benjamin Franklin first suggested it in an essay in 1784.
• It was invented by George Vincent Hudson, a New Zealand entomologist in 1895, so that he would have more hours to collect bugs.
• British businessman William Willett proposed the change to British Parliament in 1907.

What we do know for sure is that the moving of the clocks was first introduced during World War One in 1916 by Germany and Austria, and then by the allies, to save on coal usage.

World War One is long over! People, let’s get our acts together and stop this time shifting madness! I want my daylight hours back. Mutating into a mole doesn’t become me.

I love turning the clocks back so it gets dark by 4pm.

Said no one ever!

Changeyourmindbodyhealth

Make someone smile today.

Geri

Why is our Culture so Celebrity Obsessed?

Celebrities are like infants. Neither can wipe their own ass.
Michael Brian

The level to which our culture has become celebrity obsessed has reached epic proportions. News that Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt split up rocked the world! It completely controlled the news cycle for what seemed like an eternity. Someone would think that news of their impending divorce actually had some consequence in the world instead of what it actually was – celebrity obsession. And celebrity obsession is big business! There are television shows devoted to celebrity obsession – Entertainment Tonight, Access Hollywood, Extra TV and Inside Edition are just a few. Celebrity gossip magazines sell off the stands like hotcakes – OK!, Us, Star Magazine, In Touch, People and The National Enquirer are the biggies. People give up their good, hard earned dollars for these gossip rags.

With Angelina and Brad controlling the news cycle, Kim Kardashian was desperate for attention. She did the only thing she knew how – started showing up at high profile events practically naked, but to no avail! Kim’s pathetic cries for attention were barely (pun intended) noticed. Then finally the Gods smiled on Kim and she was allegedly robbed of her jewelry and tied up (in no doubt some sort of S & M ritual) in a Paris hotel. At last Kim Kardashian controlled the new cycle again and peace was restored in the land.

There is however one reason that I’m grateful to Angelina and Brad and Kim; for the time they controlled the news cycle, Donald Trump didn’t!

A celebrity is any well-known TV or movie star who looks like he spends more than two hours working on his hair.
Steve Martin

Make someone smile today.

Geri