Jeremy Clarkson's Thriller

Jeremy Clarkson's Thriller is a review of various cars that are meant to give you a thrill when you drive them. Some of them do and some of them don't. Watch the video above to see what I mean.

Funny Insurance Commercials

Honestly.

My biggest issues with insurance companies is not how funny their commercials are. My issue is whether their insurance is actually worth it, and whether they pay out when you actually send them an insurance claim. Shadier companies will refuse to pay out due to technicalities in the fine print.

Quadra Bike School

So you like to fix bicycles eh?

Do you live in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan or the North Western United States?

Well then the BEST bicycle mechanic school in the region is the Quadra Bike School located on Quadra Island in British Columbia.

I know because I also know the guy who runs the place. An old bicycle mechanic by the name of Smokey Dymny. His name even suits him, due to his "smoke grey" handlebar mustaches.

He's been fixing bicycles for 40 or so years. The exact number, I can't tell you. I can only tell you that he is really good at teaching how to fix bicycles of all shapes and sizes.

Really knows his stuff.

You might own lots of tools, you might even have some experience fixing bicycles. But chances are likely you haven't been trained in the proper ways to fix a bicycle - how to fix it faster, more efficiently, with less hassle along the way.

And lets face it. When you are looking to get hired by someone to work in a bicycle shop, they are looking for someone who doesn't just know how to fix the bicycle - they want to hire someone who can fix it quickly and properly so that they are getting the most out of you on an hourly basis.

And the more experience and training you have on your resume the more likely you are to get hired.

Pain & Gain, film review

Pain & Gain is best described as a "criminal comedy" about three not-so-bright bodybuilders who decide to rob a Columbian criminal living in Miami Florida.

And its a TRUE STORY.

Whether you are a fan of weightlifting (or making fun of weightlifting) you will still enjoy this movie. Other movies I would compare it to are Snatch and Pulp Fiction.

Overall I give this film 4 stars out of 5.

It is not a life-changing film, but it does manage to teach some valuable life lessons while simultaneously being funny about it.

Free Hearing Tests in the GTA

I recently had a free hearing test in Vaughan.

Why? It is a long story involving trespassing, someone shooting at me, and hearing damage. I shall spare you all the details, but suffice to say it happened when I was 12 years old and I am now 34.

I knew I had hearing damage because my hearing in my left ear has been "not so great" ever since that incident. My problem is that I don't know how bad the hearing damage is - and whether it is likely to get worse in the future.

Now because I like being frugal finding a place that offers free hearing tests in Toronto is pretty tricky. I ended up going all the way to an hearing clinic in Vaughan to have the hearing test done. I might have been able to find another place in Toronto that offers free hearing tests, but when I spoke to the people at Omni Hearing on the phone they were extremely helpful and willing to help me - even though they knew I was unlikely to purchase an hearing aid.

OMNI HEARING CLINIC
9699 Jane St. Unit 19
Vaughan ON L6A 0A4
905-605-4593

I have been living the last 22 years without an hearing aid and I am not about to buy one now when my hearing doesn't seem to have gotten any worse. Buying hearing aids to me is more for people who are significantly older than myself. True, I have hearing damage, but its not so severe that I can't do without.

Truth be told I have rather afraid of going to an audiologist / hearing centre because I was worried about what they might say about my hearing damage. Instead I was relieved to learn that my hearing damage wasn't as severe as I thought it might be - and while the damage was done a long time, the audiologist said it appears to have repaired some of the damage over time. There is still permanent damage, but there was likely temporary damage at the time of the incident which faded with time.

The weird thing is that he also tested my right ear - which turns out to have BETTER than normal hearing. He speculated that my right ear ended up compensating for the left ear for a period of time and has since become my "dominant ear".

So yeah, very happy with the results.

I also browsed, for fun more than anything, Omni Hearing's prices of hearing aids. I don't know if their prices are higher or lower than normal places, but their services, honesty and eagerness to help me was impeccable.

So yeah if you live in Vaughan, Thornhill or Woodbridge and are looking to buy an hearing aid or get an hearing test, I absolute the the clinic at Omni Hearing in Vaughan. I'd even recommend people from other regions of the GTA make the trip there for any kind of ear exam / hearing evaluation, etc. So if you have hearing loss problems, totally the place to go.

You can even take your hearing test online. Its less detailed, but still quick and easy to do.

Omni Hearing also sells and offers the following services:

Hearing Aid Batteries;
Hearing Aid Repair;
Hearing Aid Cleaning;
Hearing / Listening Devices;
Amplified Telephones;
Musicians Earplugs;
Custom Hearing Protection...

Basically anything you can think of hearing wise then Omni Hearing can help you.

Is that a ringing endorsement or what???

Roots Swim Shorts

I am throwing out my old pair of swim shorts.

Why?

I've lost weight in the past 4 years and they're now too baggy on me.

What I have purchased instead is a pair of Roots swim shorts, in black, which look like boxer briefs.

And I look freaking sexy in them! (Photo on the right isn't me, but its a close approximation. My legs are slightly hairier.)

Which means I am now ready to strut my stuff at beaches and pools this summer. Huzzzah!

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!!!