Day 1 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
Great to kick off this year’s dissatisfaction on the first day of Lent. I don’t practice this tradition, but wifey does. Typically, the Tuesday before lent, for tradition’s sake, we eat pancakes. Last night, we ran out or milk, so we had pizza instead. Hard to put maple syrop on pizza.
Today, Wifey announced that she is giving up all sorts of snacks for Lent. This includes, but not limited to, cup cakes, junk food, chips, basically all the stuff I like. I am now, by default, practicing Lent by association. I can now easily kill 40 days of my 100, but I am pretty sure I will find other things to complain about.
Day 2 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
Too many people criticise public servants.
If you ever doubt public servants work hard, just look at my colleague’s desk. He is so busy, he has to eat lunch out of a can – doubt it is heated. This is also an indication of his salary, can’t even afford to buy Tupperware.
Day 3 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
I don’t drive my car to work too often, but today I did. Usually, you grab your ticket on the way in, and pay the guy in the booth on the way out. Seems in my parking lot, the new owners want to replace the attendant with a machine, not too dissimilar from the one pictured below. Problem is that the instructions in the machine were backwards. Instead of inserting and pulling out your ticket in the machine, you have to leave it in. The picture of the credit card was also upside down with the stripe facing the wrong way!! This is nuts! Took a half hour to get out of the garage by the time it was my turn. I had to call the attendant, but he did not speak too clearly over the intercom. Finally got out, but took several tries! If the payment centre was in the building, maybe would be a bit more productive??
Day 4 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
It is minus brrrrr degrees outside. Wifey and I decided to go for a lunch at Jack Aster’s in the Centrum Mall of Kanata. Seemed like half of Kanata had the same idea. Mall was packed, and lineup outside of the restaurant (it was 1:3o! Who eats lunch at 1:30?)
We got in and asked for a place for 2. There were three two seated booths that were empty (despite the place being really busy). We were asked to wait. Fifteen minutes later, we were finally escorted to one of the three empty booths. The location of these booths were about 15 feet from the door, which allowed for an arctic cold blast every time it was opened. We had to eat lunch with our hats on….
Day 5 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
HMV is closing its doors. Gone are the days where you look through a rack of CDs or albums to decide what music you want to buy. In fact, with all these streaming services, one can argue gone are the days you buy music. Sad that this industry has become so devalued. Even our listening habits have changed, no longer actively listening to songs, rather have them on as background.
That said, for HMVs clearance sale, it seemed that all they had available was Justin Beiber and Christmas albums, and at modest discounts. Maybe there is another reason why this chain went under (note, for what its worth, they did not have Nickleback, that would have sealed their fate a decade ago!
Day 6 0f 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
Shot day…the clinic was open! Allelujah! The nurse who administered my shot is quite nice and originally from Bosnia. She does have an accent when she speaks. As I sat and waited to be called in to have my shot administered, I heard what I thought was my name. Came out as “Brrrrrooooose” by the nurse. Heavy accenting and extension on the rrrrrr and the uuuu and sharp cutoff on the ce.
That wasn’t so bad, but because of it, I had a flashback to when I had a Czechoslovakian nanny. She said my name in a similar manner, except that she threw in an “ie” at the end. Made me shudder being reminded of that. Further, my nanny sometimes dropped the “r” to say “Boosie”. Reason to this day I only permit a select couple of people to call me Brucie, in case any of you were interested.
Day 7 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
Finally home from work and settling down, and zonked. Ever have one of those days, after having very little sleep, that you cannot process anything? Today was such a day. Had a first. Went to get a sandwich at our local restaurant in the building. Saw a delicious picture of an egg, bacon, lettuce, tomato, and cheese club and started staring at it. The photo sandwich must have had a hypnotic effect, because two people passed ahead of me in line. Then I heard “sir” in a voice that seemed like a dream. I kept hearing it a couple more times (it was coming from behind the counter), then I snapped out of it, as if I came out of a deep sleep. The people who passed me in line started to laugh.
I proceeded to order a smoke meat sandwich.
Day 8 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
Was walking up to the bus stop and waited in line. As I was about to board the bus, saw a Blackberry 10 in its case on the ground at the bus door. I picked it up and when I got on the bus announced that I found this Blackberry. Was very surprised that someone actually admitted to losing it. I would have been happy to have it “dissappear”.
Day 9 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
Driving a friend home from work and listening to some tunes. I think my ear has officially died today. I heard a song I never heard, but for some reason, I thought Cat Stevens sounded like Tina Turner.
Day 10 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
Felt like watching a great Kubrick film, Paths of Glory, which was available at the Ottawa Public Library. I went online and placed a hold on it, and it became available for me to pick up today. Been a while since I checked something out, but the automatic checkout machines do make the process easier. I scanned my card, scanned the DVD, and poof, I was permitted to walk out of the libray with the borrowed itesm.
Felt badly for the librarians. Who do they talk to during the day, now that patrons no longer have to interact with them.
Day 11 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
Why can’t we spring forward early Friday afternoon to save our weekends? For that matter, why do we need this at all. I had my lunch at 2, and dinner time is coming fast. I am not hungry
Why don’t we move the clocks back a half hour in fall, call it even, and never do this time changing nonsense again
Day 12 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
I go to a gym, I don’t get offended by the presence of my scale. I get more offended by people who :
– sneeze hork or do other bodily functions which the shower is not intended for
– though I get its form of communication, Neanderthal ape laced with profanity not an official language
– not wiping up after using equipment
– eating copious amounts of garlic or curry just prior to working out
– unsupervised children at the gym
– noise cancelling headphones making anyone in the above list difficult to communicate with
– being forced to listen to nonstop auto tune rap for an hour a day
– axe spray in the locker room
Well done Carleton. You would save more money and promote less offensive environment by taking down your gym’s mirrors
http://www.1310news.com/2017/03/13/weight-scales-removed-carleton-university-fitness-centre/
Day 13 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
I heard the recording console for Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon recording console is going to be auctioned off at the end of the month. Should be a fair bit of coin. By contrast, I wonder what I would get for mine?
Day 14 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
I saw a yummy caramel apple gluten free granola bar on sale in the grocery store. Five bars per box.
I bought them, and when I opened the box saw this. The bars were about the size of my pinky. The image on the right shows five bars in the box.
Day 17 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
Day 18 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
I am all for accessibility and helping those in need. I don’t like it when people use disabled parking spots who do no have stickers permitting to do so and seem healthy. Even if they have the permit, I sometimes find I have to remind myself not to judge those who use disabled parking spots who have no apparent disability.
As I struggle with judging others, what do I do about this? I see a gentleman walking to the front of the line at a bus stop. He has a white cane and a service dog by his self (dog was a beautiful black lab with blue booties). He was also wearing earphones.
Day 19 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
ALL HAIL ERGO-TRON! It arrived! It is awesome and majestic. I can stand and type!
Now if only I could get my keyboard replaced….
Day 22 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
On bus. Looked down. What the heck is that?
Day 23 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017
Spent a really nice day with Mum in Montreal. We had a brunch in our usual place, Ben & Florentines, a nice breakfast restaurant. The picture below is the “after” shot. Note remnant of egg. The before looked like a plateful of scrambled eggs, bacon bits, sausage bits, and spuds all over the floor….the reason?
I am all for families going out to having a nice meal together in restaurants. I like babies too (especially with a bit of ketchup and mustard). This table had a family of three. The mother, place a rather large pile of food in front of the baby, with no plate, no placemat, RIGHT ON THE TABLE! Who knows what germs were there (another sub-issue). She did not give her baby any instruction to eat. Baby was smart. As the food was not served with silverware, it took all the food, picked it up, and threw it all over the place.
Parents waited until the pile of food was gone, a process that took a couple of minutes. Paid their bill. Then left.
Day 26 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
I watch the news in the morning, and get bombed with the same commercials over and over again.
Today’s “hit” commercial is promoting the Real Housewives of Toronto (another reason to be dissatisfied). The quote that got me during the commercial was “the higher the heels, the closer you are to God”.
I am of the opinion that that is a very weak theological point as most religions require you to take off your shoes to walk on “holy ground”
Interesting to note, Mark 6:9 says “Wear sandals but not an extra shirt.” I guess I wont be close to God today as I have an undershirt on.
Day 27 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
Wifey FB post from events of tonight
Bruce: *says rude joke*
Me: *tries not to laugh but fails*
Me: You are truly the worst of all men!
Bruce: No, I’m the best of all men!
Me: No, you’re absolutely the worst of all men.
Bruce: You married me because I’m the best and the worst of all men.
Me: That’s absolutely accurate!
Me (alone typing this): She was suppose to disagree!
Day 28 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
Saw this little critter hanging around my driveway this evening. A sure sign of spring; but seeing it brought out some melancholy in me. I was reminded of our first bunny that hung around our house. It spent much of his time sleeping in our backyard and eating clover. We called him Angus McMunchin. Sadly, Angus became a late night snack for a coyote who kindly left all but a rabbit’s foot entwined on a hip bone on our deck (coyote also left some things behind to try to claim the deck as his…). It was a sad day.
Bunnies are cute. Coyotes can be too. The two together are not.
To cheer things up after such a sad post here is a joke: What to you get when you cross a bunny with a leaf blower? A HARE DRYER. ba ha ha
Day 30 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction- 2017 Edition
A few years ago, I saw a product to help with digestion . They were cookies called Bowel Buddies.
Then I saw this product. My reaction was the same as the title of this cereal when I saw the price and questioned where is the money going?. There has to be a cheaper way to promote regularity.
Day 31 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
No offence to all my friends who are horticulturistically inclined, but our local Stupidstore is starting to fence up one-third of its parking lot for its garden centre. The writing was on the wall this week when big pallets of huge bags of earth and fertiliser appeared out of nowhere. Can’t they see that there is still snow on the ground? Obviously, there is a lot of money to be made if the grocery store is converting much-needed parking space into a flower shop. The denizen of Suburgatory do love their flowers and making their homes to a certain standard – one which everyone is expected to live up to.
Day 32 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition (for yesterday)
Iiiiiiiiits Wrestlemania! Some cool things from the show…a wedding proposal (real), and the unexpected (and likely) loss and retirement of the last standing Wrestler that was around during the times when I followed this sport as a teen (late 80s to early 90s) – the Undertaker, RIP
Then the evening was scarred by the presence and performance of Pitbull. Guy is everywhere, songs “featuring” Pitbull, now Wrestling? I am not even sure what he is talented at, certainly not singing and writing music….is using autotune a skill?
Day 33 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
Rain sucks, and sucks more when you ride the bus. I sat down by the door in a window seat. I was minding my own business until I noticed my pant leg was getting wet. I looked up to see someone had sit down next to me and hung their umbrella on a rail in front of the door, effectively making the umbrella drip all over my leg. Being wet makes for unhappies!
Day 34 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
Had a Starbucks spinach and feta wrap. Are wraps suppose to be crunchy?
Day 35 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
So the Couche-Tard in my building was having a customer appreciation day. They were giving out free coffee. Their coffee is really decent. It normally is 1.35 for a cup, and each cup uses freshly ground coffee beans, blended by the machine as the coffee is brewed in front of you. There was no one in the store getting free coffee. Where were they? At the Tim Horton’s access the hall, waiting in line for 20 minutes for the coffee that costs $2.00 a pop and can taste like two dirty socks dipped in hot water with the fragrant aroma of cat urine.
I don’t mind Tim Horton’s, but the little guy just can’t cut a break. Guess they don’t have many customers to appreciate….
Day 36 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edtion
Somehow missed this day…
Day 37 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2016 Edition
I am all for supporting small businesses. My heart breaks when I see the small guy trying to make a living get crunched by a big corporation. I usually pay with Visa, mostly for convenience and point collecting. When a small business requests we pay with cash, I will honour that as I know they have to pay surcharge and lose a bit on the profit (which for small business, does have impact).
Walmart, however, today announced it will no longer accept Visa, purely as a financial decision – despite Visa giving them the lowest possible rates. Visa is the largest credit card in Canada, and not everyone can pay with cash all the time.
When this comes in to effect after July 18, I plan to continue shopping at Walmart, ensuring my cart is filled with hundreds of “dollar store” valued items from different sections of the store, and when asked to pay cash, say, sorry, cant do it, and leave my cart at the cashier.
Any joiners?
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/walmart-stop-accepting-visa-cards-across-its-stores-canada-1564913
Day 38 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
Took wifey for a blood test this morning, saw this little creature crawling along the wall in the clinic. Hate to see what else may get into the blood samples. Concerned for overall cleanliness of our medical facilities.
Day 39 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
These bunnies were walking around the floor today. Instead of giving out chocolate eggs, they were taking money for the HOPE of winning a chocolate egg!! Even the Easter Bunny is running into hard times! lol
Kidding aside, our Social Committee does awesome work to bring cheer to the workplace, and they are amazing! Always appreciate their efforts and creativity.
Day 40 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
This bunny I saw in the grocery store tonight is :
1. Confused as it wants real vegetables
2. Sad because there is no carrot juice, but only V8 type stuff and canned tomato paste.
3. Wondering why there is no vodka sold on this shelf
4. Feels lonely and abandoned…
Day 41 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
I met a few of you at fun startup called Netactive about 17 years ago. Some of you may have still seen me wear the jacket to this day. It still fits, still keeps me warm, and does not smell too bad.
Today, someone tapped my shoulder in the store and said “I HAVE to get a picture of that jacket”. Do you mind? He immediately said that he was a tester for the company. He got paid 15$ an hour to test video games. Great deal! He almost made as much as I did (I was the guy developing those games…)
He was very nice, and I am always one to do a photo-op, but made me reflect that the jacket is a walking billboard of a cool idea that failed. Perhaps I should get the name reembroidered to “Not Active”. Would be more apropos, but then people would just think I am lazy and relatively inert
Day 42 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
GORGEOUS DAY! Warm, sunny, perfect for a walk with wifey.
But, in the distance, came a thunderous racket of 3 chopper like motorcycles, all the bikers wore “Ruffians” as patches on their leather (at first glance, I thought it said “Muffins”, which may have been appropriate given their statuesque physique….heck with a name like Muffins, they can get sponsors from such suburban tropes like Starbucks). When I saw this, I thought it was bad enough that suburban teens (mostly bored males) want to protray themselves as people who have tough lives in the projects. Now we have grown men (perhaps mid-life), who are bored and want to be the second coming of the Hells Angels in my subdivision!
Follow up note. These guys are a legit club. And of all things, they are Masons (but deny they are Masons) on bikes! I thought they were long gone!
Day 43 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction- 2017 Edition
Mum got a thank you gift from Ultramar for being a loyal customer (she heats her home with their gas). It is a $20 gift card which is to be used at Ultramar gas stations when you fill up your car with gas. As there are no Ultramar stations near her, she kindly gave me the card.
Then we read the fine print. The card is for a 2$ discount for 10 trips to the gas station, minimum purchase 25 litres of gas. So you effectively get a discount of 20$when you purchase about $350 worth of gas. Twenty bucks is twenty bucks, but does not seem like much of a thank you!
Day 44 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
Easter is here, and though I get the importance of the season to some, the choice on TV of watching the documentary Finding Jesus on CNN or the Habs beat the Rangers in playoff hockey was pretty easy.
Despite that, on this day, I am reminded of a quote. “The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians: who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, walk out the door, and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.” I can’t say if that is completely true, but it surely does not help, especially when one sees what is going on in the world around us.
Peace to you all on this day where I reflect on self-sacrificing love, which seems miles away from what some of our political, religious, and media-based institutions portray.
BTW: I did NOT get a chocolate Easter bunny this year, in case you were wondering.
Day 45 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
New ways for waiters/waitresses to fish for tips…leave jokes on the receipt. Luckily for her, the tip was not based on the quality of the joke as I groaned more than I Iaughed. Kudos for the effort, I would have given no tip if the joke had been like “What comes at the end of Easter? An R” or “Who is the Easter Bunny’s favorite actor? Rabbit DeNiro” or “What’s yellow, has long ears, and hangs in trees? The Easter Bun-na-na”
Day 46 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
Not to undermine the seriousness of this story, but shouldn’t this police composite drawing be a Têtes a claques character? I mean, what next, stick figure drawings?
Day 47 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
Rock n Roll Hall of Fame pretty cool place if you like looking at original artists guitars, clothing, lyric sheets , etc. It also had a huge exhibit dedicate to John Cougar Mellencamp (charts songs like I do!) U2 in 3D reminded me of what a special live band they are.
Absent was Rush…except on a Tshirt that lists all the inductees for $40
Day 48 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction- 2017 Edition
I am all for teaching children new life skills. Today, I was the tenth person in line at Starbucks, and the line not moving. There was a man with three young boys at the cash. He was showing them how to make a purchase with a credit card, by inserting the card in the device and entering his pin. Not bad except he was giving them each a try at it to buy their own drinks, and the six year old in the troop struggled with it for a long time…I hope people waiting in line equally learned something too.
Day 49 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction- 2017 Edition
First night in my hotel, and wow, lots of channels to watch, but no TV guide. Channel surfing almost impossible as each channel has about 10 minutes of commercials each. So I stayed on 1 channel and realized that this was not quite new programming. Lol, did not realize this show was still a thing
Day 50 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction- 2017 Edition
United Airlines announced their flight to Houston delayed due to a fuel leak. They have to drain the aircraft of fuel. Patch the leak, then refuel, all in about 30 minutes . The person announcing this sounded hesitant, perhaps the recent backlash makes delivering bad news especially difficult
Would you board this airplane, even if you are being compensated for potentially missing a connecting flight in Houston?
FYI I am on Air Canada, but was served by a united attendant who was very friendly. Ironically, Air Canada staff could learn from this
Day 51 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
Went for a walk, and this three way intersection in Kanata is what we call the Three Gates of Hell…No one knows how to stop, turn, or go straight at this intersection, which means pedestrians are at high risk and will have low probability of success crossing the street. Walked down to the roundabout where it was safer to cross.
Day 52 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
As always, waiting for my doctor’s appointment. I was 10 minutes late and there are still 2 people ahead of me. Two children really acting up with high pitched screaming and everything. Parents threatening to take children home for bad behavior. Parents – Does threatening your children with not seeing the doctor help improve their behavior?
Day 53 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
Donald Trump says Canada has ‘outsmarted our politicians for many years’ on lumber trade. Canada’s trade team strategizes next move.
Day 54 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
Starbucks has a fun promotion. Buy coffee, and they give you a chance to play a game with a Canadian theme to try to win Starbucks for life, along with thousands of other prizes. I did not realise this was happening until I had an email notification saying I had 59 plays! I log into the site , and had a choice of games. All the same. You choose one of the three objects. And if it’s a winner , you win. I chose the canoe race. I chose number 2 10 times, never won. Number 3 always won. Chose 3, 2 won. The odds were not one in three. I won nothing after using all my game plays
Day 55 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
I am starting to see a plethora of sticky notes and messages appearing all over the house. I know it takes a while for me to register new habits, and my memory not as sharp as it once was, but I am seeing these all over the place…mine is an addendum to an instruction for unscrewing a pipe under the sink
Day 56 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
there was a time when 50 grams of chocolate was just a nickel. Now you buy chocolate bars for 20$! Would you buy?
Day 57 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction- 2017 Edition
Thanks Facebook for wasting 10 years of my life today. The little outputs are well documented in this video montage
Day 58 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
Yes changed my calendar a couple of days late, and yes, I am an undergraduate fan of Iron Maiden. But the view from this photo each morning is not my happy way to start the day
Day 59 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition (as I am sure I missed one somewhere)
Today’s bus ride home brought to you by the new Ottawa forced fellowship program, designed to pack as many introverts in a confined space as possible. I now know people in ways I could never have possibly imagined. Program designed to force people to stop using cellphones (no space to hold) and to literally feel connected together
It worked, I hurt, and I no longer want to take the bus
Day 60 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
Got bemused when I saw a promotion for Diamond & Diamond lawyers that took the entire side of a bus.
Their motto: “Why suffer alone” with a photo of a man leering sort of made me wonder, is suffering alone worse than suffering (and paying) for lawyers? Are lawyers really our best friends? And what about the phone number? Hurt? Yes, your pocket book if you call them.
Day 61 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
Speaking of bus adds (yesterday) , just saw one for Comicon promoting Adam West and Brent Spiner, both canceled, and sadly advertising money spent . : (
Day 62 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition (for yesterday)
Someone thinking that I would remember this technology left this on my desk. Note the “attractive” price for mid-1990s computing could buy you a half of a new car at that time.
Day 63 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition (today)
Went out for a drive, and it is incredible to witness how the river is flooding everywhere. We have had so much rain over the last couple of weeks. We went to eat at Mongolian Village, and they serve us two fortune cookies. I opened both to get the exact some fortune as below….
Note: As of this posting, it is still raining
Day 64 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
Squirrels are sort of an unofficial mascot for our team at work, so when I saw this post, was naturally intrigued. Flying Squirrel. Interesting name for a company. Then I saw the video and reflected a bit on it.
Love to see how this works with 2000 kids in here at once…going nuts and trying to emulate some of this stuff. Hope the squirrel has insurance…
Day 65 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
Took 20 minutes to drive to hospital, took 25 minutes to find parking
Day 66 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
So glad to have tuned in to see the last goal of the game
The way the Sens are playing, I may need to eventually by my first team jersey #HabsFor2020StanleyCup
Day 67 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition (for yesterday)
This was sort of an interesting photo, and not 100% sure what it is trying to tell me…do I get $300 if I park there with a disabled sticker on my car, or no parking for the disabled, or if I have a permit, I have to pay $300?
Day 68 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
A colleague offered me a part time share of his parking lot in Gatineau last week. The price made it very tempting for me to pick up on the deal, especially of late, as I have been taking the car more often to work. Today’s commute sealed the deal. I left home at 730 to arrive at the office at 915. I will not take my car to work any more than I have to . The bus is a guarantee 1 hour and I can read and listen to music
I will never complain about OC Transpo again (will see how long that promise lasts)
Day 69 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition.
Spent the day learning the fine art of being a school crossing guard. The job is much more nuanced than I thought, otherwise people think that you are too aggressive, like me, so it seems, in my yelling at people to get off the road. ; )
They really do not pay those guys nearly enough! lol
Day 70 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
Day 2 of my comicon volunteer duties…I was manning the lines outside of room B. The schedule said that all of the celebrities were doing Q&A session in my room, but really they were in the main hall. I wish I had a dollar for every time I was asked the question if so and so was in my room, and I said no they are in the main hall #1.
Most common response back…”but it says HERE (points to schedule) that this is in room B” (almost as if I was lying or hearing this for the first ime). Better yet, the response of where is Main Hall 1? And I would point down the corridor and say, do you see the #1 sign? That is main hall 1.
Actually had a lot of fun…enjoyed doing that
Day 71 to 72 0f 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
The irony – I had a lot of fun on the outside looking in, and met some really great people and will look forward to the next time I do something like this (maybe from the inside in Montreal???)
Day 74 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
I meant to post this shortly after my return from Cleveland. It has been a while since I last flew, and I thought it funny that Apple had a vending machine. Now all the major electronic stores have them. You can buy a $500 Boss headset in one of these machines. Have to admit, not really the first think I think about while flying.
But in the Ottawa airport, they sell BAGGAGE! I would hope people would actually buy luggage and pack before going to the airport!!
Day 75 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
Any car radio experts in the house??
My car is less than 5 years old. I love listening to music, keeps me sane when I drive during rush hour or on any trips longer than 10 minutes.
My Toyota car radio Aux/CD button stopped working completely yesterday, so anything plugged into the deck won’t play. The button only turns on the CD if there is one in there.
Cant drive with what is played on the radio, so need my tunes! Is this a quick fix or do I need to replace the deck? If so where do I do this (car radio stores seem to be a thing of the past…)
btw: who designs a deck like this? The radio buttons are cut into the dashboard! How on earth do you elegantly replace the original radio? Most decks are rectangular!
Day 76 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
How on earth does a hubcap just disappear from one’s car? They don’t evaporate, do they?
Day 77 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
What is the point of showering when the buses don’t turn on the air conditioning?
A friend once described my job as the Purple Monkey Dishwasher expert. The expression was born out of the Simpson’s episode in the video below. How does it translate to me? I am often communicating in the middle. Developer comes to me and says there is a problem. I prepare documentation to pass to another team that prepares another document to be dispatched to a central agency. That agency sometimes does not know which team to dispatch the document, it goes back to the team that originally prepared that submitting document, they don’t know the answer and comes to me. I answer, then the process is repeated, except this time the dispatcher prepares a few additional documents for different teams. Each team has similar yet different questions, so the documents retrace the steps back to me at different times for answer. I answer the same question several times. Goes back around and this time the documents arrive at the people making the fixes to the problem. They don’t know how, so it comes back to me. I dont know the answer so I ask the developer who gives me the instructions how to fix the problem (he could not do it, the others have to), so I send the revised instructions back through the pipe to get the job done.
5 minute fix takes two weeks. Today was the end of such process.
Day 79 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition (for yesterday)
Spent over an hour trying to get across the Île aux Tourtes Bridge in Montreal. The bridge was built in 1966, and seems to always need construction. This is typical of Montreal.
Irony, there was only 1 lane that was closed, and the traffic backed for over 5 km
Day 80 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
I was concerned about my return ride from Montreal, based on yesterday. And the Île aux Tourtes Bridge had the same lane reductions, but I flew across. Have no idea what was different between the two trips.
I looked up online that Montreal decided to do all its construction during the long holiday weekend, perfect for any tourist who may want to take a quick trip to the city, or travellers going to the cottage for the first time of the season.
http://montreal.ctvnews.ca/long-weekend-lots-of-construction-1.3420655
Day 81 of 
💯 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
Watched a recent Iron Maiden show filmed in Dublin. Singer Bruce Dickinson said at one point “blithering idiots, now running the world, with their fingers on the nuclear button”, and when he points to flags showing where fans have come from, there are people from as far afield as Japan and Argentina. “We don’t care where you come from or what you do in your spare time. If you come to an Iron Maiden show, you’re family.”
Who would have thought that in such crazy times a grizzly old rock band in bullet belts singing about demons, warfare, apocalypse and mass murder would emerge as a beacon of unity, peace, love and understanding? God (or the other fella) bless them.
Day 82 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
Went to work despite feeling ill, only to have, on the way home, a truck take out the power lines at the entrance for the OCTranspo Transitway, causing havoc for most commuters…and later, I decide to go to the walk in clinic to see a doctor only to find out the clinics were closing an hour early (read between the lines, Senators hockey pre-empts health care)
Went home and sucked on a throat lozenge
Day 83 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
Software for the lighting system was really wonky. The lights were going on and off all over the building randomly. I had a meeting in a dark meeting room, and I flipped the light switch to turn on the lights, and then the emergency alarm went off!
I felt sheepish, but it was a perfectly timed coincidence with a planned evacuation drill (I am talking the evacuating the building, not evacuating people).
Day 84 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
With all the fuss about the Sens not selling out playoff games, I am seeing a lot of prime seats that are empty in Pittsburgh..FOR A GAME 7!
Day 85 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
Ever sit in on a teleconference when you have laryngitis, say something profound, and there is a big empty pause cause no one has a clue what you are saying? That was my day…
Day 87 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
New Conservative Leader, Andrew Sheer, chooses a fiddle cover of “We Are the Champions” as a victory song …find that ironic if you know anything about Freddie Mercury and Andrew Sheer’s values.
btw: also found this ironic…and I don’t even know the man yet! Are my Twitter posts really THAT offensive to a new Conservative leader ; )
Day 88 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
Seems to be missing….
Day 89 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
So excited to get my Hydro bill. I believe this is the first time I am getting a Hydro rebate, courtesy of the Wynne government! I wonder which of my friend’s grandchildren will make up the difference in payment?
Day 90 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
Colleagues thought I was suffering from laryngitis still today. I thought I was talking in my natural speaking voice…
Day 91 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
This city has serious commuter issues. Buses are expensive and overcrowded. Not many people carpool. People do not know how to drive or are very patient drivers. And parking costs you 15$ if you just step into the parking lot.
Telework is becoming an option. We are already not talking to each other because we are glued, face first to our devices. We will talk less to each other if we don’t go into the office!
Day 92 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
Going to my first gig in a long long time tonight (Brass Monkey at 10 pm). I thought that what I wore at work was appropriate (black golf shirt and cream pants) Wifey said no
So jeans and Iron Maiden t-shirt are now on
Day 93 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
I won’t make a political commentary about US withdrawing from Paris accord. I won’t, in fact, make any generalizations about the notion of how the right looks inward and self, and the left look outward to others. What I will say is this:
Clean coal is like dry water…
Day 94 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
Driving home from the gig last night, recalled playing in band 15 years ago. After each show, we would go and have a fast food feast at a hamburger joint. I had that itch last night for fast food and it came out of the blue. I had not thought about that tradition. Yet It was so installed in me, I scratched that itch and went to McDonald’s.
The experience was not what I remembered 15 years ago. And as my body is older, my experiences today relate more to evacuation than satisfaction (if you do the understand what I am saying, look up what it means to evacuate a person, as opposed to a building)
Day 95 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction -2017 Edition
Classic parking. Suppose to go between the lines! And parking on the median probably not a bright idea just outside the beer store! Perception is everything!
Silver lining, did not take two parking spots for his precious car, like most jerks do
Day 96 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
Since when does eating out for a breakfast cost as much, or more as a lunch? I always got that drinks and appetizers have incredibly huge markups, but isn’t anything sacred anymore. Too much for me! Going to sulk as I munch on some Rice Krispies.
Day 97 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
Last Wednesday, I saw this on my neighbours driveway. It took me a while to figure it out, but it seems like a failed experiment to build an aircraft from a BBQ and a dryer (dryer in front).
Note: garbage collection was not on Friday past, but this coming Friday, so I have had a full 10 days to appreciate this fine creation
Day 98 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
I am getting tired of paying huge cable bills each month. I really only watch one channel, the one I call stupid (CNN), for about 15 minutes a day as the panelists on it who yell at each other usually help wake me up and motivate me to turn off the TV and go to work. I am bemused by the CRTC less than 25$/month cable legislation. If I were to go with that option, I get maybe 10 functional channels which contain nothing but rubbish and commercials, and if I want to subscribe to the stupid channel, that would cost me 7$ a month! If I want more stupid channels (like Fox News, CNBC), I could get them all bundled for 10! No sports at the 25$ level. If I want Sports Net and TSN, I would have to pay 18$/month extra, which puts me in my current tier. Cable boxes are extra! I am thinking cable will shortly be gone in my near future…
Day 99 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
I am all for bilingual signs, it is a way I have always improved my French vocabulary. in fact, it is mandatory in my office. Saw this sign hanging in the bathroom today. I may be wrong, but it seems like the French instructions are a little different than the English, and seems to be missing a vital step…
Day 100 of 100 Days of Dissatisfaction – 2017 Edition
Well, year three has come and gone, and despite my posts, there was a lot of cool things going down in my life. I volunteered at Comicon, I am having a lot of fun with a great work band (and great bandmates!). This spring has brought about a certain life renewal, despite feeling sick since daylight savings time. I have reconnected with some old friends, and am trying to relearn how to make new ones (yes, it is a forgotten art).
My posts, have to admit, are a bit like American TV…stretched way beyond their shelf life. So need a new and creative way to use Facebook as a communication tool. Maybe in a month I will start posting my next 100 Day series, like Day 1 of 100 Days of Trump; or Day 1 of 100 Days of Kitty pictures.
And yet, with all these tools for communication at our disposal, it sometimes feels like we communicate less, in a weird way. I have oodles of friends on Facebook, of which 10% are pretty active (and always enjoy chatting with them). But I have noted a decline in use since the American election. I guess people are just getting fed up and dissatisfied of arguing or reading posts about how great is the “other side” and how horrific is your side. Despite that, thanks for sticking it through folks, and thanks all for reading. Hope it was deeply satisfying.
If you want to read the previous 2 years posts, or listen to a few of my 100 days of guitar riffs, visit my http://dissatisfiedbruce.com site. I may get back into blogging my frustrations again in the near future.
I do plan to post this year’s 100 Days of Dissatisfaction soon. Will let you know when it goes online.
Dissatisfied Bruce, Author 