The National Post put together a little compilation of what people are thankful for about Toronto. Since I am in one of my "loving Toronto" moods, and have been for the past few days, I thought it appropriate to post this. Love ya T-dot!
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Giving Thanks to Toronto
Happy Thanksgiving!
The National Post put together a little compilation of what people are thankful for about Toronto. Since I am in one of my "loving Toronto" moods, and have been for the past few days, I thought it appropriate to post this. Love ya T-dot!
The National Post put together a little compilation of what people are thankful for about Toronto. Since I am in one of my "loving Toronto" moods, and have been for the past few days, I thought it appropriate to post this. Love ya T-dot!
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Things I Learned Today
What the Texas Sharpshooter Falacy is:
"The fallacy gets its name from imagining a cowboy shooting at a barn. Over time, the side of the barn becomes riddled with holes. In some places there are lots of them, in others there are few. If the cowboy later paints a bullseye over a spot where his bullet holes clustered together it looks like he is pretty good with a gun. By painting a bullseye over a bullet hole the cowboy places artificial order over natural random chance."
This comes from the most recent article from the site You Are Not So Smart: A Celebration of Self Delusion, a blog my brother introduced me to, which publishes articles about how humans tend to believe in dumb and/or irrational things (that is the psychologist in me talking).
The article on the Texas Sharpshooter Fallacy also made me learn a new word!
Stochasticity: noun. the quality of lacking any predictable order or plan [syn: randomness]
I wonder how long it will take for this to turn up in pop culture? Instead of "how random!" I am going to start saying "how stochastic!" ... and they used to call me Nerdlinger.
"The fallacy gets its name from imagining a cowboy shooting at a barn. Over time, the side of the barn becomes riddled with holes. In some places there are lots of them, in others there are few. If the cowboy later paints a bullseye over a spot where his bullet holes clustered together it looks like he is pretty good with a gun. By painting a bullseye over a bullet hole the cowboy places artificial order over natural random chance."
 |
| "He's shooting at a barn! Get 'im!!!" and so on... |
This comes from the most recent article from the site You Are Not So Smart: A Celebration of Self Delusion, a blog my brother introduced me to, which publishes articles about how humans tend to believe in dumb and/or irrational things (that is the psychologist in me talking).
The article on the Texas Sharpshooter Fallacy also made me learn a new word!
Stochasticity: noun. the quality of lacking any predictable order or plan [syn: randomness]
I wonder how long it will take for this to turn up in pop culture? Instead of "how random!" I am going to start saying "how stochastic!" ... and they used to call me Nerdlinger.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Working Girl...
All the jobs I have had (that I can remember)…in as much of a chronological order as I can remember. I included everything that I actually got a pay cheque for. There were some one-shifters that I ran from before they had a chance to get all of my pertinent information.
1. Cafe/Restaurant
• Total time employed: 6 years
• This was my first job! The job interview consisted of the manager asking “Will you do a good job?” and that’s it. It helped that my older sister worked here! I stayed at this job for far too long.
2. Tim Horton’s (kiosk in a hospital)
• Total time employed: 2 months
• I couldn’t call myself a Canadian if I had never worked at one of these (it was part of my citizenship agreement).
• Things that did not make this job fun:
• Quit by getting off the elevator on my floor, turning right back around and going home. My supervisor called 5 days later to ask if I knew I had missed my shifts.
4. Call Centre Two
• Total time employed: 2 months
• Cold-calling people to set up cost estimate appointments for student-run painting company – as exciting as it sounds
• I was one of the original staff at a new location which made it somewhat more exciting. Mostly worked as barista but also made all sorts of crazy deserts – that’s real whipped cream yo!
• There were days were ALL I did (that is 8 hours folks) is photocopy and/or file
7. Call Centre Three
• Total time employed: 8 months
• Verified credit card application information for major US-based bank. Paid well. Although we only called people who had applied for cards already, we would still get yelled at for asking personal questions. People are dumb. When I left this call centre I made the decision to never work in one again....not sure why it took so long.
• For a part-time student job this was pretty much as good as it gets. Could study while undergrads completed psych experiments, paid almost $20/hour, flexible schedule and would have looked great on a Grad School application (yeah, that never happened)
9. Summer temp job – head office of rental car agency
• Total time employed: two summers
• Filed keys, photocopied agreements, sorted license plates – yep, the high life!
10. Line Cook in University Restaurant
• Total time employed: 2 school years
• Probably the most fun job I ever had – really had to do with the fact that I was in university and working with undergrad hoodlums like myself.
• Lots of after work beer-drinking and/or karaoke and/or house parties that ate up all of the money I ever earned here.
11. Baker at Summer Camp
• Total time employed: 3 months
• Wish it was only 3 weeks – nice to be out in nature and on a lake for the whole summer but I still shudder when I think back to this time. My memoir will perhaps detail my time at this job in a chapter entitled “Stupid Mistakes Young People Make”
12. Cook in Tex-Mex Restaurant/Bar
• Total time employed: 3 years and counting (on and off)
• Although not the most fun job I have ever had (I am not longer a university hoodlum) it is probably one of the best overall places I have ever worked. Awesome, awesome people and lots of freedom! And that is what makes or breaks any job.
• My job interview consisted of "So you want to work here? When can you start?"
13. Line Cook at Music/Dinner club
• Total time employed: 1 shift (long enough to see the state of the kitchen)
• Lack of money makes one desperate
14. Baker - Catering company that specialized in providing healthy meals to day cares
• Total time employed: 1 year
• It was like working in a baked-goods factory - totally industrial set up. Their cause was good, most people who worked here were great, and I met would-be boyfriend of almost two years here - it did not last, but the relationship was my best yet!
15. Sandwich/Salad Prep person in Food Court lunch place
• Total time employed: 2 days
• Lack of money makes one desperate
• Lack of money makes one desperate
17. Paper-pushing 9-5 job
• Total time employed: 1.5 years – still here...
• Meh.
To be continued?
I really think I am missing some as my last "in-head" count was 21...
1. Cafe/Restaurant
• Total time employed: 6 years
• This was my first job! The job interview consisted of the manager asking “Will you do a good job?” and that’s it. It helped that my older sister worked here! I stayed at this job for far too long.
2. Tim Horton’s (kiosk in a hospital)
• Total time employed: 2 months
• I couldn’t call myself a Canadian if I had never worked at one of these (it was part of my citizenship agreement).
• Things that did not make this job fun:
- Shifts started at 6am every Saturday and Sunday
- SARS scare = paranoid hand-scrubbing every 5 minutes
- Old hospital = No air conditioning during a heat wave
- Shift supervisor position = counting the till at the end of every shift, which, at a place where everyone always comes with exact change, was a painstaking process.
3. Call Centre One
• Total time employed: 3 months
• Cold-calling to get people to switch their home phone providers. Got yelled at, hung up on, while still managing to get a few sales. • Quit by getting off the elevator on my floor, turning right back around and going home. My supervisor called 5 days later to ask if I knew I had missed my shifts.
4. Call Centre Two
• Total time employed: 2 months
• Cold-calling people to set up cost estimate appointments for student-run painting company – as exciting as it sounds
5. Café Demetres – ice cream/desert café
• Total time employed: 2 years• I was one of the original staff at a new location which made it somewhat more exciting. Mostly worked as barista but also made all sorts of crazy deserts – that’s real whipped cream yo!
6. Temp Position in fancy Bay Street financial firm
• Total time employed: 4 months• There were days were ALL I did (that is 8 hours folks) is photocopy and/or file
7. Call Centre Three
• Total time employed: 8 months
• Verified credit card application information for major US-based bank. Paid well. Although we only called people who had applied for cards already, we would still get yelled at for asking personal questions. People are dumb. When I left this call centre I made the decision to never work in one again....not sure why it took so long.
8. Research Assistant in university Psychology Lab
• Total time employed: 1 year as volunteer, 2 years as paid position• For a part-time student job this was pretty much as good as it gets. Could study while undergrads completed psych experiments, paid almost $20/hour, flexible schedule and would have looked great on a Grad School application (yeah, that never happened)
9. Summer temp job – head office of rental car agency
• Total time employed: two summers
• Filed keys, photocopied agreements, sorted license plates – yep, the high life!
10. Line Cook in University Restaurant
• Total time employed: 2 school years
• Probably the most fun job I ever had – really had to do with the fact that I was in university and working with undergrad hoodlums like myself.
• Lots of after work beer-drinking and/or karaoke and/or house parties that ate up all of the money I ever earned here.
11. Baker at Summer Camp
• Total time employed: 3 months
• Wish it was only 3 weeks – nice to be out in nature and on a lake for the whole summer but I still shudder when I think back to this time. My memoir will perhaps detail my time at this job in a chapter entitled “Stupid Mistakes Young People Make”
12. Cook in Tex-Mex Restaurant/Bar
• Total time employed: 3 years and counting (on and off)
• Although not the most fun job I have ever had (I am not longer a university hoodlum) it is probably one of the best overall places I have ever worked. Awesome, awesome people and lots of freedom! And that is what makes or breaks any job.
• My job interview consisted of "So you want to work here? When can you start?"
13. Line Cook at Music/Dinner club
• Total time employed: 1 shift (long enough to see the state of the kitchen)
• Lack of money makes one desperate
14. Baker - Catering company that specialized in providing healthy meals to day cares
• Total time employed: 1 year
• It was like working in a baked-goods factory - totally industrial set up. Their cause was good, most people who worked here were great, and I met would-be boyfriend of almost two years here - it did not last, but the relationship was my best yet!
15. Sandwich/Salad Prep person in Food Court lunch place
• Total time employed: 2 days
• Lack of money makes one desperate
16. Hostess at trendy (read: WASPY/Hipster) health food resto
• Total time employed: 2 weeks• Lack of money makes one desperate
17. Paper-pushing 9-5 job
• Total time employed: 1.5 years – still here...
• Meh.
To be continued?
I really think I am missing some as my last "in-head" count was 21...
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Savin' Money and Lovin' Life
I just finished reading a fabulous book titled Orchids on Your Budget by Marjorie Hillis. It is, by far, the sassiest, suave and fashionably savvy book on budgeting I have ever read, down to the wonderful illustrations and handy pocket-size. It was originally published in 1937, but I found it to be very relevant to 2010 - all you have to do is replace The Great Depression with the Economic Crisis that the USA, and the rest of the world, are currently crawling out of and the rest of it rings true. Below are some of my favorite excerpts.
 | |||
| Written by a woman who worked for Vogue for 20 years...could be called Your Guide to Fabulous for Less! |
From the chapter "Pleasure Dress":
"A cheap dress worn with good accessories will fool more people than an expensive dress worn with cheap accessories"
"Any wardrobe that hasn't at least one dress that makes you feel as pretty and as elegant as you can possibly feel is a wash-out."
From the chapter "Can You Afford a Husband?"
"The Smart Poor do not pretend to be rich, which makes everything different. Once you give up struggling to fool people, you can have a lot more fun on very little money. You can live in a funny flat in a poor city neighborhood or a remodeled barn in the country. You can go to cheap foreign cinemas and boast about it, instead of skimping in order to be seen at the Opera. You can hunt up bargains in clothes and rip off the gewgaws and - if you have the flair and figure - look like a million dollars. And on the other hand, you can buy orchids when you need a new rug and, if you feel like it, get yourself a husband instead of a bank account"
From the chapter "You Have to Eat"
"There may be those who can get along on peanuts and dates eaten at odd hours, but it is our inexpert opinion that they are queer ducks who like what it does to their ego more than they dislike what it does to their health"
Next on the reading list? Her other book titled Live Alone and Like It: The Classic Guide for the Single Woman. As a newly single bachelorette I think this book will be just the ticket!
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| Cover of Live Alone and Like It |
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| Me at age 2(?) - I was born ready for the bachelorette life! |
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
MUAH!
"Any man who can drive safely while kissing a pretty girl is simply not giving the kiss the attention it deserves." -- Albert Einstein
Friday, September 24, 2010
For the times they are ... um ... becoming different.
Fall is almost upon us here in Toronto and as much as I will miss patios, shorts and the feel of the sun on my skin, I am ready to put the summer behind me and move on to the next season. To me, fall feels like a warm over sized sweater on a crisp morning. As soon as the first hint of autumn hits me I immediately begin to cycle through the numerous 'symbols' of this season in my head. Such as:
- apples
- scarves
- squashes
- warm soup
- changing leaves
- awesome fall boots
- etc.
Most importantly, fall is the perfect prelude to the long winter nap. It is like the chamomile tea I drink to make sure my slumber is peaceful and easy. Although the winter does not always come and go as easy as a snooze in a comfy bed, there is a sense of suspended time when all of the plants are buried under snow and the sun is barely visible. Winter is the time that we plan. The time we take stock of the previous year and make resolutions (be they New Year's Eve inspired or not) for the following year. So it only makes sense that one should be properly prepared for such a soul-searching season. My personal preparation, which consists of spending more time indoors, and by myself, while drinking copious amounts of apple cider and contemplating new soup recipes to an unhealthy degree, is one that gets me ready to relax, slow down and go inwards.
I believe it was in an episode of the MTV reality show "The City" that someone (I believe it was a date of one of the main character's on the show) said they prefer places like NYC to LA mostly due to the seasonal changes. He said something (and I am sure I am paraphrasing) that seeing friends in the winter time is a much more intimate experience. Everyone is indoors and physically closer together than they would be out of doors, plus everyone has to make more of an effort to get all bundled up and venture out of their apartments. It separates the friends from the acquaintances I think!
I remember hearing him say this and right away I wanted to jump into the nearest dimly lit booth with my closest friends, while snow was falling outside and enjoy some red wine...or even better, mulled red wine! As much as I am sure this winter will be a fabulous one (I feel it in my bones) I am even more excited to experience the autumn months and take advantage of the natural beauty this season provides as much as possible. Plus this is the perfect time to start weeding out the "acquaintances" and making mental lists of who you will be enjoying mulled wine with come January.
- apples
- scarves
- squashes
- warm soup
- changing leaves
- awesome fall boots
- etc.
Most importantly, fall is the perfect prelude to the long winter nap. It is like the chamomile tea I drink to make sure my slumber is peaceful and easy. Although the winter does not always come and go as easy as a snooze in a comfy bed, there is a sense of suspended time when all of the plants are buried under snow and the sun is barely visible. Winter is the time that we plan. The time we take stock of the previous year and make resolutions (be they New Year's Eve inspired or not) for the following year. So it only makes sense that one should be properly prepared for such a soul-searching season. My personal preparation, which consists of spending more time indoors, and by myself, while drinking copious amounts of apple cider and contemplating new soup recipes to an unhealthy degree, is one that gets me ready to relax, slow down and go inwards.
I believe it was in an episode of the MTV reality show "The City" that someone (I believe it was a date of one of the main character's on the show) said they prefer places like NYC to LA mostly due to the seasonal changes. He said something (and I am sure I am paraphrasing) that seeing friends in the winter time is a much more intimate experience. Everyone is indoors and physically closer together than they would be out of doors, plus everyone has to make more of an effort to get all bundled up and venture out of their apartments. It separates the friends from the acquaintances I think!
I remember hearing him say this and right away I wanted to jump into the nearest dimly lit booth with my closest friends, while snow was falling outside and enjoy some red wine...or even better, mulled red wine! As much as I am sure this winter will be a fabulous one (I feel it in my bones) I am even more excited to experience the autumn months and take advantage of the natural beauty this season provides as much as possible. Plus this is the perfect time to start weeding out the "acquaintances" and making mental lists of who you will be enjoying mulled wine with come January.
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