Sears Canada

I have a word or two to say about Sears Canada.

#1. If they are going to have outlet stores and retail stores, they should really change the names.

And their websites. That way if you browse something on sears.ca and then go to a particular store... only to discover that certain stores don't carry the same merchandise.

They should rebrand the retail stores and give it a new name that is more fitting. Keep the outlet stores as "Sears".

#2. Does anyone even use Sears catalogues anymore?

I mean yes, you can order things from a Sears catalogue and then go pick it up. Super convenient. Works even better now that we have the internet. But when you have the WHOLE internet at your disposal why would you buy anything through Sears? Better variety? Nope. Better prices? Nope, not that either.

In which case Sears is missing a huge opportunity. They could dramatically improve the variety of things they sell through the Sears catalogues and website and get a lot more sales that way. They could even expand into electronics and give Best Buy and Future Shop a run for their money. (Again, this new direction should be rebranded under a different company name - something that will inspires tech people.)

#3. Service, or lack thereof.

I do not go to Sears for their quality service. It would be nice if they did have higher quality service, but at this point its barely lip service. They "pretend" to give you service.

Today I wandered the bedding department looking lost for over 10 minutes, expecting one of the staff to offer to help me. (Normally in a store they're rushing over and asking if you need any help, especially if you are looking lost.) Eventually I had to go to a clerk and ASK for help. I shouldn't need to ask. It should just happen and then I can either politely say "No thanks." or "Yes, I am trying to find blankety-blankety-blank."

Edward de Gale, Toronto philanthropist

This isn't really a product review. Its a kudos.

Kudos to Edward de Gale, a local Toronto philanthropist and social entrepreneur who donates his time (and sometimes his money) helping others who are in need.

Toronto needs more people like Edward de Gale. So kudos to him.

In contrast we could use less of our idiot mayor Rob Ford. The guy makes Dumb and Dumber look smart.

And if you've never seen the comedy Dumb and Dumber then I strongly recommend you go watch it.

UPDATE

Check out all the good work he has done over the years.

Share The Warmth

City of Toronto: Community Service Volunteer Awards - 2002 winners

Housing Awareness Event - 2006

Homeowners get burned over heating costs - Globe & Mail

Gouged customers shocked by power costs - Toronto Star

Extreme cold brings out the rescue squads - Toronto Star

Price increase hikes demand for 'power bank' - Ottawa Citizen

Oblivion Review

Better than I thought it was going to be.

No spoilers here.

So I got dragged to this movie by a friend who didn't even know it was an alien movie and #2 doesn't know how to spell Tom Cruise (she spells it Cruz...).

After bickering about where to sit I sat closer to the front of the theatre and she sat at the back. We figured oh well, we can discuss the film AFTER instead of during, much to the happiness of the people sitting around us.

Without the spoiling the film for anyone I give it 4 stars. It was a pretty decent film, even though I kind of despise Tom Cruise. I suppose if it had been an actor I actually like I might have given it 5 stars or 4.5. Hard to say.

What was kind of weird was the soundtrack... It kind of felt like we were watching Tron Legacy. *cough* Which is probably because it was directed by Joseph Kosinski, who directed Tron Legacy. So small surprise there.

Even the plot is a bit like Tron Legacy too. And similar to Avatar in a weird way.

The good news is that the plot was nicely tied up in a bow too, which means no chance for a sequel. Which is good because I don't want to see Tom Cruise in "Oblivion II".

Mouthwashes Review - Scope Vs DualBlast Vs Listerine

When it comes to cleaning your teeth toothpaste is very important.

But I would argue that rinsing your mouth out afterwards with a good quality mouthwash is every bit equally as important to kill all the germs in your mouth.

Or at least 99.9% of them.

Scope is the brand I've been using for years. It is the brand my parents use, continue to use and the brand I am most accustomed to.

However a number of years ago Scope came out with several new flavours including Citrus and Cinnamon. I didn't really like the cinnamon, but the Citrus flavour was so good I completely switched over to that and ditched my old Scope.

But then they took the Citrus version off the market a few years ago.

Arg!

So now I am back to the old mint flavour, which sucks in comparison.

As a result I am now in a constant search for a new mouthwash that tastes as good as the citrus version.

I've tried various bottles of Listerine. They ALL taste horrible and ingredients wise its the same stuff (alcohol) which is cleaning your teeth and killing the germs. I'd rather swish my mouth with vodka than use Listerine.

The old mint Scope is boring... But I still buy it regularly.

Today I tried DualBlast Scope - the Icy Mint flavour. Meh. It is okay but nothing special.

Hey Scope executives, if you bother to read this, bring back the Citrus scope!!!

2013 Zombie Movies

Lots of zombie movies coming out this year.

"Gallowwalkers" is a zombie movie starring Wesley Snipes - a zombie movie / western.

"World War Z" is a zombie apocalypse movie starring Brad Pitt - with super fast zombies.

UPDATE - World War Z is kind of a sucky movie. Good graphics, but the plot is a tad boring. I give it 3 stars out of 5.





Also on the horizon is "The 4th Reich", a zombie movie starring Sean Bean - with zombie nazis.

And... The Harvard Zombie Massacre... starring nobody famous, but interesting because it has "smart zombies".

And last but not least...

The remake of "The Evil Dead" is already out in theatres. Haven't seen it yet. Not sure if I want to, the originals were so hilariously good.

The Call - Movie Review

"The Call" is essentially just a remake of "The Silence of the Lambs", except with three major differences - the main character is a 911 operator instead of a FBI agent, the whole "Hannibal Lector" bit is skipped entirely and replaced with a lot more action, and the ending is quite different but I don't want to say how (no spoilers here!).

Overall I give "The Call" 3 stars out of 5. Its not a spectacular movie, but its not bad either.

20,000 Leagues Under The Sea

I am surprised nobody has made a Hollywood blockbuster remake of this classic film - 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea.

Maybe that is because the original Disney film starring Kirk Douglas is just so awesome all on its own.

Butchered Pork, Much Tastier than grocery store pork

Earlier this year I bought a pig.

Or rather half of a pig.

My sister and her husband purchased the other half of the pig.

Now I am not talking about a cute little tiny piglet either.

I am talking about a huge boar weighing several hundred pounds.

This pig we purchased was then butchered and made into...

Sausages
Pork Chops
Ham Roasts
Spare Ribs
Butt Chops
Side Pork (similar to bacon)

And so forth...

Now there is a huge fundamental difference in the quality of the meat you get from your grocery store and the quality of the meat you get from an Ontario farmer and a local butcher.

#1. Butchered meat tastes waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better.

#2. Healthier too. No additives and dyes.

#3. The meat is fresher, locally grown, and the pigs in Ontario are better fed.

#4. The sausages taste way better because they are made from better quality parts of the pig instead of from the poorest quality parts of the pig.

And to top it all off... its cheaper to buy a pig and get the meat butchered this way. Costs about half as much as buying the same quantity of meat from a grocery store.

If you buy meat straight from a butcher you will still be paying a mark up price like you would in a grocery store. But when you buy the pig yourself and then pay for the butchering, you cut out the mark up price and save yourself a bundle.

So better tasting, healthier pork in your freezer... and more money left in your wallet. Its a win-win scenario.

The only downside is that you need a nice big freezer with lots of space to store a whole pig's worth of meat.

Which is why in my family we buy a pig and then split it between siblings. Saves us space in our freezers.

Buying your pork from the grocery store??? That is for suckas.

Scrub Free??? Pfff!!!

Ever tried Scrub Free on your bathtub, sink, toilet or shower?

Chances are likely you still had to scrub the bathtub, sink, toilet or shower afterwards.

In order for Scrub Free to do what it claims in the TV commercials you have to spray a LOT of it on the surfaces you are trying to clean. And then wait 3 minutes to see if it worked or not.

And sometimes you may need to go back and spray it twice, and even then have to scrub the specific surface you are trying to get clean.

That being said it is still better than some older products on the market because this product does still reduce the amount of time spent scrubbing.

See my new post on this topic at Scrubbing Bubbles Vs Scrub Free.

However there are also lots of similar products now on the shelves too, including:

Scrubbing Bubbles
Clorox Disinfecting Bathroom Cleaner

As to which of the three products is BEST, I haven't had a chance yet to try out the other two. But seeing as my current bottle of Scrub Free is almost empty I shall try to remember to buy 1 of the others and test it out.

Idea for a T-Shirt

Note to self.

Get the following printed on a t-shirt:

MY TESTICLES

ARE MICROSCOPIC!

HAHA, MADE YOU LOOK!

I come up with funny ideas for t-shirts on a regular basis but I am also forgetting to write them down and have them made into an actual t-shirt. Maybe if I write them down here I will remember to have the t-shirt made.