Enterprise Car Rentals + 2014 Jeep Patriot

By C. Moffat and D. Eze

We recently took a vacation and decided to get a car rental for the trip. Hence why this is a review of both Enterprise Rent-A-Car in Toronto, and also a review of the 2014 Jeep Patriot - as that was the car we took on the trip.

#1. Enterprise - 3.5 Stars out of 5

The prices were fair, on par with similar car rental companies, the biggest difference however was that we requested a compact economy car for the trip and they instead gave us a free upgrade to a Jeep.

The free upgrade was nice, but the gas bill was larger for obvious reasons.

Also we got insurance with the rental, and originally the tab was supposed to be $161 + HST for the car (so the total should have been $181.93), but apparently the insurance for the Jeep was more expensive and they conveniently neglected to tell us that the insurance costs more for the Jeep... so the total ended up being about $242.

So $60 more than. The service was good, but we do feel we got ripped off on the price of the insurance.

#2. 2014 Jeep Patriot

We loved the Jeep.

Power, comfort, air conditioning, all the gadgets you could want on a car, and we were able to figure out how to lower the back seat without needing the instruction manual. We needed to lower it so we could fill the space with 3 coolers, camping gear and more.

So yeah, easy to figure out and spacious inside there. We had more than enough space for all of our stuff and could have brought two large German Shepherd dogs with us too if we had been so motivated.

Further below are photos of us with the 2014 Jeep Patriot after filling up the gas tank to 75% at the gas station (if you don't fill it up to the level you received it with then Enterprise charges you $2 per litre for the difference). And yes, like all SUVs the Jeep Patriot is thirsty... but we don't care because it was otherwise awesome.

Conclusions

We enjoyed our vacation, we enjoyed the Jeep - we are wishy-washy on Enterprise since they overcharged us on the insurance - but overall we are not overly angry at them since their service was otherwise excellent. Just wish they had warned us that the insurance was going to be a lot more.

You can really tell we liked the Jeep because we had big goofy smiles on our faces. :)

Danby Countertop Dishwasher

Note to self, buy a Danby Countertop Dishwasher from Home Depot.

http://www.homedepot.ca/product/counter-top-dishwasher-ddw611wled/984958

Why?

Reviews rate it as 4.2 stars out of 5, it fits my kitchen countertop perfectly, and it only uses 12 litres of water during a regular wash cycle. And it comes with a 1 year warranty.

I have a Danby freezer already (9 years and counting...) and am very happy with the build quality of the freezer. So I am going to guess based on experience that the dishwasher is equally as good.

If you are like me and hate washing dishes, having a countertop dishwasher is more convenient and doesn't require much effort to install.

Home Depot price is $248 CDN. (Walmart sells the same model, but the price is $278 because they like gouging Canadians...)

Vests and High End Men's Fashion

By C. Moffat

I have to attend a wedding in August for my sister.

I have pants, shirts and ties that I typically wear for formal occasions. But that doesn't seem formal enough for the wedding of a sibling.

The last time a relative of mine got married it was 1998 and I recall wearing a tuxedo that was extremely fancy and included a vest, jacket and a collar button.

I also recall it being a June wedding and awfully hot outside...

Much like another wedding I attended 2 years ago for two friends who were getting married. It was extremely hot that day, the wedding was outside and I wore my black Stetson - which frankly, was awesome for keeping the heat off.

So as the August wedding for my sister approaches I find myself looking at vests.

Because let's face it, if you want to look formal you cannot go wrong with a vest. (And it should go well without a jacket - and equally well with my black Stetson.)

Browsing online I came across a company called Kishwear - which sells high end men's fashion, including vests like these below:

And the company is based in Toronto, Canada - so less shipping costs and I can feel good about myself for shopping locally. So Kishwear is good in that respect, and their commitment to high end men's fashion is pretty clear as you browse their website. Formal, retro and stylish.

Not sure if I will opt for a bow tie. I might skip the bow tie, have an open collar and put a decorative silk handkerchief in my vest pocket. I have time to think about it between now and August.

Winnie the Pooh fragrances

Someone should invent Winnie the Pooh fragrances...

They should be called "Eau de Pooh for Women" and "Eau de Pooh for Men" and should smell as follows:

"Eau de Pooh for Women" - Flowers, honey and frolicking (a light feminine musk).

"Eau de Pooh for Men" - Flowers, honey and bear hugs (deep musky smell).

Just sayin'.

There is actually a Winnie the Pooh fragrance, but it is not called "Eau de Pooh". And doesn't smell like the smells I described... and regardless of whether the bottle says "for men" or "for women", I am pretty sure it is for kids.

More examples of Smart Advertising

Here are more examples of Smart Advertising, similar to our post from March 1st.

Ikea employee insults breastfeeding mother

Here is what happened.

Brea Rehder says she was at the Ottawa Ikea store on Monday and asked about the price of an item she was purchasing.

The cashier went to get another employee who could help. That employee, she said, finished a long conversation with a colleague before making her way to where Rehder, her two children and a friend were waiting.

By then her nine-month-old daughter had begun to fuss, so she started to breast feed her in the store. (Ikea officially has a breastfeeding friendly store policy.)

Then the manager came over. "She came over to me and I asked her my question and immediately she said, 'When you’re done being disgusting, we can discuss this. But in the meantime, take it to the bathroom because you’re holding up the line,'" Rehder quoted the manager as saying.

"But the only reason I was holding up the line was because I was waiting for her."

After she paid for her items and left, Rehder went to the company’s Facebook page to complain about the incident.

"I have never been more insulted in my life," Rehder wrote on Facebook, adding that not only will she reconsider shopping at Ikea in the future, and that says she is also mulling a harassment suit.

Ikea has since apologized to Rehder and says the company is attempting to track down the manager who was involved in the incident.

To do what? Admonish them over an incident that has triggered a store boycott from every woman who has ever breastfed a child in public (and any people who are sympathetic to their cause, myself included).

I should hope this manager gets fired on the spot and I hereby encouraging everyone who reads this to boycott Ikea until they fire the manager for overstepping their bounds and ignoring Ikea's company policy.

Large corporations have company policies for a reason. It is to prevent boycotts, lawsuits and other problems that could hurt the company financially. When an incident like this happens the appropriate thing to do is to ask the employee to resign. If they refuse, more drastic action may be needed such as a demotion or outright firing them.

In this case I am in support of outright firing the manager. Kick them to the curb for ignoring the company policy and drawing a possible lawsuit.

Until Ikea fires the manager in question I am going to leave this post up unchanged and if I ever mention Ikea in future blog posts I will also mention the boycott. If they do fire the employee I will add an "Update" section with the date showing that they have fired the manager, and Ikea can sit safely that our boycott has ended.

Essay Writing Companies in Toronto

Essay writing companies are not illegal - which I find funny, because they are promoting academic dishonesty. Because cheating in school is really only an academic problem...

What is also funny is how they are a dime a dozen. Here are the names of just a few of the local companies, some of which even have offices within walking distance of the University of Toronto campus.

Organized Alphabetically

canada.customessaywritingservices.com

customessay.com

essayexperts.ca

mastersessay.com

toronto.universitytutor.com

ultimateessays.com

And many more are out there. These are just a few of the essay writing companies in Toronto that I found by browsing a single Google search.

The companies in question also legitimize themselves by offering other services, like resume writing, CV writing, cover letter writing, editing and proofreading services, course work and research papers.

They can even make Power Point Presentations and Multi Media Projects.

So yeah, there is really no limit to academic dishonesty.

If you asked the student to write poetry or a simple fictional short story, they could probably take it to an essay writing company and they would get poetry and short stories easily.

I have no idea what the prices are for poetry or short stories, but I imagine it is something quite expensive. Creativity and quality writing takes time and effort. The higher quality companies no doubt charge more. Browsing prices on an essay writing website makes for some interesting reading.

For example MastersEssay.com has a form you can plug in your desired requirements for your project and then it gives you a chart that shows the prices for what you are looking for. (And also three levels of quality, so you can choose how good you want your essay to be.)

And you can rush order essays to be done in 3, 6 or 12 hours.

Although I do wonder what crazy person is writing a 10 page art essay in 3 hours... and how much is the writer's cut after the company takes their share?

Evidently a cheating young student would save a lot of money simply by ordering their fake essay at least 10 days in advance.

What I am seeing here is that these companies have become very sophisticated and now offer a huge range of services.

Everything from editing to research to writing the entire thing for you.

In browsing MastersEssay.com's services they even list solving math problems as part of their services.

MATH!

Wow.

Now I feel really smart because all my life I wrote all my own essays, did all my own math homework, and I won both literary and math awards back in the 1980s and 1990s.

I find it funny that people are hiring other people to do their own math problems.

What happens when they get out into the real world, are hired as an economist for a big bank... and they cannot do simple math problems??? Are they going to hire someone else to do all their math for them???

I can just imagine the homeless person on the street holding up a sign that says "I have a Masters Degree in Economics but got fired because I cannot do math..."

Sheesh.

Oasis Smoothie

By Charles Moffat

Let me make this clear. I do not like bananas, pineapples or coconuts.

But I do like the Oasis Smoothie made out of bananas, pineapples and coconuts... Which makes me quite surprised that it is so good.

Galleria Supermarket - Korean Grocery Store

By Charles Moffat

Ever since I returned from South Korea I have been a fan of going to Korean grocery stores... You can get things there that you cannot get in "normal" grocery stores.

During my trip today to the Galleria Supermarket (which has several locations in Toronto and the GTA) I purchased 4 bags of groceries containing the following.

Thin slices of pork belly (for making samgyopsal Korean BBQ).

Lettuce

Strawberries

800 g of Kimchi

Samhwa Citron Tea

Red Bean Paste

Red Pepper Paste

Beef Bulgogi Ramen

Chicken Flavoured Ramen

Lemon Taiyaki Tea

Crown Peach Candy

Barley Tea

Maeshil Plum Tea

Total was $73.01.

I also got a membership card (which is free) for Galleria Supermarket, which allows me to cash in points later for free stuff at the grocery store - although frankly I will probably forget to cash in the points, but whatever.

Just for signing up for the card they also give you a coupon for $5 - but it is only valid if you come back and spend $30 or more within the next 2 weeks.

So now I have to remember to go back again before March 21st.

Last Defense Utensil Wipes - Good or overly paranoid?

Okay so the makers of Last Defense Utensil Wipes emailed me last week asking if they could send me samples of their product. Which they did.

What it is - in case you did not read the image up above - is disinfectant wipes meant to be used on utensils, glasses, tea cups, etc., basically for anyone who is super paranoid about germs.

Now I do see a real world application for this, namely people with low immune systems like people suffering from HIV / AIDS (who have no immune system at all because the HIV virus killed it).

However for the vast majority of people, worrying about germs is largely just that: Worry and paranoia.

The truth is the vast majority of germs is not going to be spread via utensils and cups at restaurants. It is going to be spread by touching door handles and door knobs, or even just coughed into the air and be attached to water molecules, in which case you will just breathe in the germs...

So unless you are planning to start wearing a face mask over your mouth and nose all the time when outdoors, chances are likely you are going to be exposing yourself to germs.

In which case there are now designer germ masks in a variety of different colours and patterns to choose from.

Back to the Last Defense Utensil Wipes I should probably say that they do work and disinfect whatever it is you are cleaning with them.

Probably. I don't have a microscope that can see germs, so I am only guessing. I cannot tell you whether they work or not at cleaning germs away.

But it probably does do what it says.

In which case you have to ask yourself, how paranoid art thou?

Well if you are the type of person who worries about the cleanliness of restaurants then maybe you should not be eating in public in the first place. Just stay at home, never leave home and eat only things you grow in your private greenhouse.

Conclusions...

The product probably does work, but it is one of those niche products that really only appeal to people who are paranoid about eating in public places where germs are in the very air you are breathing anyway.

So if you get sick, don't blame the Last Defense Utensil Wipes because it is not their fault. They are probably doing their job. You breathed in the germs from the air anyway because that is the nature of the world we live in.