Automotive Insurance Vs Leasing / Renting

I want to take this moment to point something out.

If you live in a city and don't actually drive that often you can save a bundle of money by renting or leasing... Simply because you don't to pay for insurance quite so much.

This is especially true if you are young and male.

Example - A friend of mine has his car in his wife's name just so they can save on insurance. Because it is in her name they only pay $3000 per year on auto insurance. If the car was in his name the insurance would be $5500 per year.

However lets pretend for a moment that they took the subway / TTC to work and they only drove two days per week... Well then they would save a huge bundle of money on the following things...

Auto insurance.
Car repairs / maintenance.
The cost of purchasing a car.
Renting or leasing thus can be a huge money saver.

It is true that you can later sell the car... And then buy a new one, which is another problem because then your insurance goes up because its a newer / more expensive car. If you buy a new car every 5 years you will end up spending a bundle on new cars, replacement parts, automotive insurance, repairs...

Thus if you don't really drive that often it really makes huge economically sense to rent or lease only when you actually need a car.

A Trip to the Post Office

Yesterday I got a note from the post office in my mailbox informing me that a package had arrived.

I had no idea what was in the package - as I had neither ordered anything recently and was not expecting any products being sent for me to review. (If you want a product reviewed, contact me and I shall give you my mailing address.)

On Tuesday I received a free wedding dress from simplybridal.com, which will be used for my sister's upcoming wedding in 2014, so I wasn't expecting anything else to show up in the near future.

When I went to the female clerk in the post office I also spied a series of Zodiac based stamps for sale. The Sagittarius stamps especially caught my attention (because I like archery).

So on a whim I purchased some stamps. I can use them for snail mailing relatives.

The clerk came back with my package, which turned out to be a package of underwear and socks from "MeUndies"... I had previously reviewed MeUndies on the Fashion Salon website.

The package included a letter which said:

"Hi Charles!

Here are some samples from the brand new men's and women's product line we've put together at MeUndies. It includes some awesome patterned socks, newly designed and super comfy Lenzing Modal undies, and some of the best fitting basic tees around.

We would love to get your feedback!

Best,
Greg Fass
Head of Marketing"

Now when I received the package I was really only expecting a rather delayed package of women's underwear which was supposed to be sent back in Mid September 2012 - and is now 6 months late being delivered. I had already reviewed the men's underwear for the Fashion Salon website, but I was going to give the ladies underwear to a female friend so she could review it also. Except it never arrived.

And now, 6 months later, a package does arrive... and it does contain...

4 samples of women's underwear
1 pair of red socks with black dots
1 pair of boxer briefs with a water tower pattern on it
1 white shirt, size medium
1 black shirt, size large

Which is all really wonderful - and they do look really comfortable. But I am left wondering... what happened to the women's underwear for my friend which was supposed to be delivered 6 months ago???

And then I look at the package... USPS (United States Postal Service) and then Canada Post.

If the package from 6 months ago was sent... did it get lost in the mail? Or was it never sent?

Luckily, Greg Fass included his email in the letter so I will be emailing him soon in an effort to discover if the older package was ever sent.

Maybe they simply ran out of "Briefs, Medium, White"...? Which I doubted until I checked their website (which has been updated recently) and it no longer lists white briefs as something they sell, so maybe they really did run out of them...

FedEx (which delivered the wedding dress on Tuesday) never had any problems with that showing up. But things do sometimes get lost in the mail...

eg. When I was 18 I ordered a package of music CDs from Columbia House... and then they never arrived. So I had to ask them to resend them.

And it really isn't so much that things get "lost" in the mail. Nobody "loses" a package of things like that. Its simply that sometimes postal workers realize what is in a package and just steal it for themselves.

Which is why I NEVER send large important packages via regular post. I always pay extra for courier because the rate at which packages are not delivered is significantly lowered. That doesn't mean FedEx, UPS, etc doesn't steal stuff too... it simple means they don't do it as often because they know the packages are being tracked electronically.

Which begs the question, since the postal service is evolving anyway due to the internet / email / text messaging / etc... maybe its time they also evolve to add electronic tracking to all their parcels too? Just slap a barcode sticker (stamp???) on each package, scan it, and then track the package from being sent to the place it is delivered.

Yes, over time that means that prices will go up - but the prices at the post office are going up anyway!

Those Sagittarius stamps I purchased? $7.12 for the package of 10. $0.712 each.

If I wanted to send a small package by courier I might be spending $10 to $20 on it, depending on the weight. If I try to send the same package using nothing but stamps... It might take all 10 stamps to do it... and it might get lost in the mail. So it is worth spending a little extra so you can track its progress and make sure it doesn't get lost. Especially if its something valuable.

Thus stamps are really only good for sending small items - letters to relatives, friends, etc.

Horse Riding Lessons in Toronto

I am looking for a place in Toronto that gives horse riding lessons.

Five Guys Burgers and Fries

Five Guys Burgers and Fries is a new fast food restaurant on Yonge Street in Downtown Toronto, not far from the Eaton's Centre.

Today I tried their burgers (and their fries)... But I am sadly disappointed. Their burgers are really only par. And while the fries were excellent they really were not worth the price.

My conclusion is that if you want a good burger go to a pub or to Hero burger. Hero has really good burgers. But I must admit I still prefer pub burgers much more. True, it takes longer to get your burger, but the quality is way better.

The whole thing about Five Guys Burgers and Fries is that it is supposed to be authentic California style burgers - or at least it is as close to that as they can possibly get without being in California... However all this proves to me is that California burgers really aren't that good and don't deserve this reputation of quality.

It simply was not that good of a burger. Not when compared to Hero burger or to a typical pub burger.

It was certainly better than McDonalds or Burger King or any other, you know, - cheap - fast food place, but really not as good as some people like to say it is. Its reputation is overblown.

Final review? 3 stars out of 5. Nothing special.

Oscar party: The Life of Pi

I just came home from up really late night Oscar Party - and I think it's time for me to watch the movie The Life of Pi. I saw the trailer previously and I did wanna see it sometime but I just haven't got around to it yet. I am now watching it right now. Literally right now. Details to come later on how much I liked it or whether I hated it.

New Blue Hoodie from American Apparel

I just purchased a new blue hoodie from American Apparel for $62.15 CDN.

It is basically identical to the green hoodie I bought awhile back. Proof that if you love a product you go back for more.

Reasons why I love this particular hoodie?

#1. No logo. I am a huge believer in NOT advertising brand names on my clothing. (Unless of course I am being paid to do so, then it would actually make sense. The people out there wearing GAP on their shirts and paying extra to buy such a shirt probably has a gap in between their ears where their brain should be.)

#2. Comfort. These hoodies really are super comfy.

#3. Handy zipper and pockets. It annoys me when I have to pull a hoodie over my head. (Or off my head during coitus - I think people should use the word coitus more often. Its a fun word.)

#4. Plain colours. I prefer primary colours. Weird . bizarre colours are just not for me. Plus primary colours are easier to match with.

#5. I wear these hoodies regularly. My green hoodie I typically wear once per week.

The only problem I have with American Apparel is that their sizes are all incorrectly labelled... they undersize their clothing.

Extra Large is really just a large.
Large is really a medium.
Medium is really a small.
Small is really an extra small.
And extra small is really XXS.

Basically its because they want to sell only to fit / skinny people. They don't sell XXL in their stores (they might claim to do so on their website, but if you go to a store in person you won't find anything that big). The biggest size is XL and its really just a large with the wrong label.

So if you're either a really big muscular Arnold type person... or a rather obese person... either way you can't buy clothing at American Apparel. Their clothes are just too small.

The Harry Potter film franchise

If you haven't seen the Harry Potter films yet you'd better hurry up and go to watch them before someone ruins the ending for you.

The films are very good and there's 8 of them. So you really have no excuse for not watching a piece of film history. And a piece of literary history too.

If you are 1 of those people who have been living in a cave recently and haven't seen the Harry Potter films then evidently there is something wrong with you. It's past time you've seen them. If you don't someone's grandmother is going to ruin it for you because their grandmother will have already seen it and you haven't.

If you're 1 of those people who think that there is nothing that Harry Potter has to offer for you, I'm sorry, pull your ignorant head out of the sand and go watch it already.

The Bhagavad Gita

The Bhagavad Gita is a book central to the Hare Krishna religion. There is various versions of the book which include different interpretations / translations of the Hindu text. The version I own is known as "As It Is".

I must admit the book is very interesting (it has to be, there is a whole religion based off of it) but at the same time I must point out my own general disbelief in this book - its logic is full of gaping holes.

And to be fair, so is the Christian Bible and many other religious texts. Religious books in general no doubt win over converts who are ignorant of science, theology and logic. But to someone like myself ( who is best described as over-educated ) it all amounts to rubbish due to gaping holes in the logic.

I am not writing this to cause any arguments with any religious folks out there. You are free to believe on whatever hogwash you want to believe in. Speaking for myself however, it is not for me.

And I have quite a few books on the subject. See the photo below. So its not for lack of reading and research on my part. It is simply that I have read enough of all the various religious texts to be able to recognize when I am being lied to.

American sign language dictionaries

For the past several years all I have been privately studying American Sign Language (ASL).

Below is a photo of 2 books that I recommend for learning American Sign Language.

Aloe Juice + Apple Berry Juice

I am a fan of mixing different juices together in an attempt to make something even more tasty.

Today I tried mixing aloe juice with a cocktail of apple juice and Saskatoon berry / raspberry juice. It was extremely good!

So good I felt like blogging about it. Here is a photo of the 2 juices I used.