The World of Colin

Wow. This still works?

2008-09-19T00:02:00.001-07:00

I'm not even sure when I last updated this. Probably about two years ago, I am guessing.

I am posting this because I was thinking about starting a new blog to post photos and stories from my upcoming training trip to Virginia. Now, it's training for work. There can't be many stories, right? Well, I find a way to make a lot of rather boring things seem interesting.

Anyway, just wanted to check in. I will probably post more on Saturday or Sunday upon my arrival.

2006-12-07T21:11:00.001-08:00

Testing testing... hmm. New update coming this weekend. I hope. I'm just playing around with Firefox plugins. OK, so I'm not my friend, who has installed like two hundred extensions on his network drive so he can always have the "fully customized just like at home" experience at school. Heh.

This message has no point.

Technorati Tags: firefox

Protective procedure, or banking blunder?

2006-12-05T22:28:00.000-08:00

Forgive me for my poor attempt at subject line alliteration. It will stop. Really.

So, today I awoke to my online banking service rejecting my login attempt. I figured it was perhaps just a temporary glitch in the system. Upon arriving at school, I went to the ATM there, only to have it tell me [after I entered my PIN] to contact a representative to set up my bank card. Very odd, I thought.

Before I get into the rest of this story, let me just step back and explain which "banking" company I'm referring to. President's Choice Financial... aka Superstore Bank. They made me get one of their accounts when I was hired there 3 1/2 years ago. Their service isn't bad, except for the fact they have no actual branches... just little "pavilions" inside Superstore locations.

Anyway, I called their number this evening, and luckily was transferred directly to a human being. No hold time, no awkward "for a problem with your account, press 1" prompts, nothing. That was good. What wasn't so good was when she wouldn't let me proceed until I figured out my verbal password. Honestly, I had no clue what this was... and the fact I was worried about my money and things like rent, insurance, etc that comes out of that account. She let me proceed ANYWAY, and then asked me about recent transactions... see above. It's not like I take a mental note of exactly how much I spent recently and where, although perhaps I should now.

Back to the actual issue here... apparently they deactivated my bank card because they suspected some sort of fraudulent activity. I have no idea how they could determine this, but I swear she said something about how I used it in a "fraudulent zone", which I would guess means somewhere where there's a risk of fraud or something... so, out of curiosity, I asked what my last transaction was, hoping that nothing crazy had gone on there. It was my trip to Dairy Queen on Saturday evening. Was there something up with that Dairy Queen? Or were they just being a little too overprotective of me? It all seems a little odd.

Anyway, all my money's still there, my rent cheque came out just fine, I just have to get a new bank card from one of those pavilions. Not having one is almost nice, in a way... just because I know I won't spend anything until I get one, and it's sort of nice to force myself to ration food, etc well.

I had more on the brain but something came up and I lost all motivation. Oops.

"Welcome to my world"

2006-12-02T22:33:00.000-08:00

The token first post. Can't imagine anything too greatly useful for the timebeing, but there's gonna be more sometime down the road.

For now, here's a couple links to sites I quite enjoy.

Uni Watch - the creation of one Mr. Paul Lukas, this blog has daily finds [and many pictures] on interesting things in the world of sport fashion. Some of it seems a little on the crazy side, but I must admit, there's always been little things that I noticed while watching games where I wondered... does anyone else notice these things? And apparently, these people do exist.

Inconspicuous Consumption - Also by Mr. Lukas, this site ponders questions about consumer products, such as wondering why the green ketchup is referred to as "Blastin'" green. Funny stuff. I don't know how often it's updated these days, if at all, but the content that IS there is really good.

Threadless - an amazing site that sells some really funny and creative T-shirts designed by people all over the world. If you have a creative design for a shirt, send it in, or browse their extensive catalog. I have four shirts of theirs, one of which is known as "Cookie Loves Milk".

About Blogs

For the longest time, I never really understood the purpose of blogs, and why they're so popular. YET, I've had an "online journal", which is so very odd... and probably way too personal. I don't think blogs are meant to be personal. They're meant to be informative, relevant, and perhaps funny. They're the kind of thing that really opens up the power of the Internet... just because you can see someone's daily observations on life and what they see, and you end up learning something you otherwise never would have learned. It's interesting to read others' perspectives on things.

My other, much neglected and never truly fulfilled, blog is somewhat of a reflection of this. I mean, in recent posts I talked about grocery list and those buttons you hit when you want to cross a street. Which reminds me... what's with those ones that actually have VOICES that count down the numbers left to cross. I found one of those a week or so ago, and I thought it was so stupid. I mean... aren't beeps sufficient enough?

Snow is good. Snow is fun. People in this area [myself included] cannot drive in the snow, thus making snow really bad and really NOT fun... that is, if you have to go somewhere.