Paolo Gaspar

As defined by theurbandictionary.com, a Tool is:

A sad soul who is being taken advantage of without realizing it

I am that sad soul, and for years Canon has been taking advantage of me. I honestly don’t know what Canon does that makes their products superior (in my mind) enough that it necessitates the premium I pay over other similar products.

My First Canon

It all started five years ago when I about a Canon A60 (with a bundled 128mb memory card, it came up to about $450 CDN). It was a 2.0 megapixel camera which had everything that I needed. An affordable camera with a a lot of manual features. The only thing that disappointed me was the resolution as I originally wanted a 3.2 megapixel Nikon. The Nikon’s price point was more than I wanted to pay at the time, but I’m glad that I chose the Canon in the end.

My Second Canon

The A60 lasted about 10 months. During that time, it got dropped, water-logged, and generally abused (though I prefer to say that it was well used). Seeing how much abuse it was able to handle, I decided to buy another Canon; A Canon A80.

This baby had a swivel screen and 4.0 megapixel - WOW. I took that camera with me everywhere; concerts, Montreal, road trips, and even the Philippines … twice. I eventually also bought a Canon 20D for those extra special shots as well. The A80 and 20D complemented each other nicely.

The A80 has served me well for four years, but it is no longer not as nice as it used to be. The body literally has been coming apart. That was never too much of a problem because the pictures were still really good. It was only recently that the sensor started to give way and cause some strange pink’ing in high contrast shots. Then, it started giving me the dreaded E18 error. Its the digicam equivalent of going braindead.

My Newest Canon

With my upcoming trip to the Philippines and Japan, I’ve been looking for a good deal on a new camera; a Canon, of course. That deal came today when I went on Future Shop’s website and found a Canon A720is on sale for $50 off. I had always had this camera in my radar, but thought I would buy it in the states because of the price difference. This $50 discount practically put it at a break-even point so I decided to go for it. Added to the appeal was the $150 Future Shop gift card that Meg gave me for Christmas!

So I bought the A720is along with two 2gb SD cards for $40 and a cheap SD card reader.

Here is a picture of the old A80 and the new A720is. Note how the top of the A80 is totally missing the metal part. Also note how much larger the A720is’ screen is! The A80 had a 1.5″ screen. I think the A720is is a 2.5″ screen.

The Proof is in the Pudding

I dunno what that means, but whatever … the Image Stabilizaion works really well too! The two images below show that. The one on top is without IS and the one on the bottom is with IS. That was the only variable that was changed.

Here are some other sample pics:

Needless to say, I’m very happy!!

*sigh* … now time to get back to studying so I don’t get rocked again…

I turned 24 around 6am this morning.  I’m glad not to be 22 or 23 any longer - I just like the way “24″ sounds.  I’m at work right now though, then I have school later where I’ll be quizzed on how to calculate taxable income.  My prof is really adamant about teaching us in a way that would make people think that we’re all going to go on to work for the CRA.  I’m sorry … I have no interest in working for the same people who will be taxing me as well.

Early Morning

I actually greeted my birthday while I was at Tim Horton’s.  Meg called me at about 5 minutes to midnight to say Happy Birthday.  I tried to do the same on her birthday back in December, but I fell asleep and called at like 12:30am.  I stayed there until about 2am when I went home to go to sleep.

I woke up this morning and went to work … late.  I got in at 8:30 when apparently I was supposed to have started at 8am.  Our schedule has been changed around quite a bit, making a usually predictable schedule a little unpredictable at time.  Now, whenever someone has a birthday at work, there’s the obligatory “All Branch Staff” email sent out to make everyone aware of who was turning how old.  That didn’t happen today, and I’m actually quite happy about it because those kinds of birthday wishes make me have to talk to people who I don’t want to talk to (ie. ever had to say ‘hi’ to a co-worker simply cuz you’re walking past him/her?  that’s the kind of feeling I wanted to avoid).

Hungy!

Lunch today was REALLY good.  Meg and I went to Pho Tam (which is an AWESOME little pho place by Surrey Central Station).  It’s a diner style restaurant with a focus on good food and a high turn over;

• The food is good and you get full fast
• There isn’t a whole lot of decor, so there isn’t a whole lot of reason to stick around
• It’s cheap so there’s always a high demand ($8.25 gets you a LARGE bowl of noodles and the best deep friend spring roll in the Lower Mainland)

Today I got a french coffee as well, which is basically coffee brewed using a Vietnamese filter and dripped directly into a cup with condensed milk.  The taste of coffee is strong, but is balanced with the sweet and creamy taste of the condensed milk.  Meg had her usual “small #3 with a spring roll and a coke”.  It’s a winning combination and we’re not likely to change that any time soon.Something funny happened in that we sat down a guy who looked like one of the Mandelbaum’s of Seinfeld fame.  haha.

Tax Sucks 

There wasn’t a whole lot that happened after lunch and by the time I got home, aside from getting thoroughly ROCKED by the tax quiz that I had to go through today.  I’d much rather go through a colonoscopy; at least that way, I’d be fast asleep while being violated.

Back Home

When I got home my family was there to greet me and wish me a Happy Birthday.  My dad forgot how old I was and that it was even my birthday:

Mom: It’s your birthday isn’t it?!
Me: Yup!
Dad: It’s the 19th already?!
Mom: ..!!
Me: Yup
Dad: So you’re 25 now, right?
Me: … umm … I’m 24

Hahaha … I think he was joking around … I’m not really sure, but it’s funny anyways

I Feel Special =) 

I got I came across my brother’s present for me: a bluetooth headset!  If you guys recall, Meg had given me a BlackBerry Curve as an early birthday present, so this headset complements it nicely!  

Aaron also gave me a t-shirt that he ironed The Shocker on to during the St. Patty’s party at his house on Friday where Meg also presented me with an ice cream cake with Dwight Schrute on it.  Rad!  While my birthdays are relatively quiet, they always end up being spectacular! =) 

So I’ve been dating my girlfriend, Meghan, for a year on Sunday Tuesday, March 11.  We celebrated on Sunday by getting a room at the Hyatt Regency and having dinner at Gotham Steak House.

The Flowers

I hopped on to google and searched for a florist in downtown Vancouver.  I wanted to find a place downtown because I wanted to set up the flowers in the hotel room prior to our check in.  Instead of finding a place downtown, I found a store in East Van by 29th avenue station called Vin’s Flowers.  The products were great and the price wasn’t ridiculous.  I picked up the flowers and buckled them into the front seat of my car.  They were good enough to provide me with a nice box to keep it steady as well.

To make them extra special, I also made tags for the dozen roses (one for each month we’ve been seeing each other) and wrote a quick blurb about what happened in that month.  I was afraid that it would make everything look a little busy, but as you can see, it turned out quite nice!

The Hotel

I decided to book a place at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Vancouver.  I was going back and forth between the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver and the Hyatt, but the Hyatt’s modern decor won out in the end.  We got a Regency Club room on the 29th floor (of 35 floors) which entitled us to a personal concierge, and a private lounge with a balcony and continental breakfast.

So far, aside from the Hyatt, I’ve only stayed at the Pan Pacific (Vancouver, Whistler Mountain Side, and Whistler Village), and The Hilton Whistler, but I’ve gotta say that the Hyatt has definitely topped them all.  The flatscreen TV, Kohler fixtures, and backlit headboard really put them over the top.

Oh, did I mention that the staff there are SUPER courteous?!  They were happy to arrange the aforementioned flowers in the room for me prior to our check-in.  They also said “hi” everytime I came out.  At times it was weird, but it feels nice being treated that well.

My Present

Meg had done a great job putting together a collage of pictures from the past year.  I’ve always wanted a picture frame like this.  As I looked closer, I noticed some tickets in the frame.  I thought they were stubs when I read it closer and found out they were FOO FIGHTERS TICKETS!!!  I’ve been trying to get them for a while, but that didn’t work out for me cuz I didn’t want to pay something like $200 a ticket.  Meg was able to get them for face value, AND they’re general admission too!  I’m stoked, and of course, she’ll be coming along with me!

The Restaurant

I got reservations at Gotham Steak House.  Anyone who lives in the Lower Mainland knows that Gotham has a  reputation that preceeds itself as the best place for steaks in the city.  After our experience, I have to agree!

Our appetizer was the fresh oysters.   We LOVE oysters.  The oysters they served us were nothing super special compared to others we’ve had, but they were of a nice size and not wimpy looking ones like we’ve had at other places.  I inquired about the Oysters Rockefeller, but something about cooked oysters kinda turns me off.  It wasn’t a night for experimenting - it was a night for getting what we wanted.

For the entreé, Meg wanted the most tender steak they had, so she went for the Filet Mignon.  I’ve always drooled at the picture of a really well-marbled steak, so I got the 24oz Bone-in New York Strip as recommended by our waiter, Bob.  They both tasted great!  The Filet was super tender and had that “buttery” softness to is as Bob had said it would.  Mine was a little fattier than I thought it would be, but it was still absolutely fantastic!

Dessert was a giant creme brulee for Meg and a open faced apple pie for me.  Meg’s creme brulee was really good (though not quite as outstanding compared to its peers like the steaks were) and my apple pie (which came a la mode) didn’t have a crust … at all.  Perhaps I’ll go for the cheesecake next time.

Lots of people say that it’s super expensive to eat there, but I guess that’s all relative.  We were extremely happy with our experience there which made every penny spent worth it.  On the other hand, we’ve heard from friends who have spent more on dinner but weren’t quite as satisfied, making such dinners feel a lot more expensive than its real dollar cost.  Our dinner came to $150 or so and Bob was tipped $30.  So $180.  Not bad at all!

Aprés

We headed back to the hotel room and laid in bed.  It was very comfortable!  The pillows were nice and firm, but not overly so.  We also ordered 27 Dresses on the hotel’s Pay Per View system since Meg had been wanting to watch it for a while.

I eventually had to drive her back home at around 2:30am bringing an end to a great night.  The valet was nice and quick about bringing up my car as well.  As a reference point, the Pan Pacific in Whistler Village used to take like 10 minutes where as the Hyatt was done in about 2-3 minutes.  Wonderful!

When I got back to the hotel, I was surprised to find that a copy of the latest National Post was already on my doorstep.  I don’t read the National Post as much as I used to, so I just crawled into bed and went to sleep soon after.

I woke up the next day to rainy skies - your typical spring day in the Pacific Northwest. 

While waiting for the valet downstairs, I decided to hop into Timmy’s next door for a triple triple.  When I got back out, I noticed them putting the picture frame into my trunk.  I guess they gave me a weird look because they saw the beer bong in the back (how’s that for alliteration?!)  hahaha.

I drove away happy as can be.  Best Sunday, ever!

Yeah, I’m still here.  I’ve been really busy lately with school and work so I’ve barely had any time for myself.  I’ve also been busily planning 1 year anniversary plans for my girlfriend, Meg, and me.  So far I’ve got reservations at the Hyatt Regency in Vancouver and dinner at Gotham.  We’ve never been to either place, so it should be nice!

My birthday is coming up soon too.  Meg got me a new wallet and a new phone which I absolutely love!  It’s nice to have a phone where I can actually see what’s on the screen.  The photos below show just how messed up my old phone was due to all the damage I caused to it.  Of course, I’m not going to be so careless with my new one :).

In other news, I went snowboarding at Grouse a few days ago and it was fantastic.  There was a good 20cm of fresh powder in most areas and I honestly didn’t expect that considering it’s March now.  I’ll take it though!  The powder made it a little difficult to go through the Quiksilver Park with decent speed to hit the bigger jumps, but the small park was no problem as long as you carried momentum into the jump.  I really can’t wait ’till the spring weather really starts showing itself!  Then I’ll fully have the ability to speed up fast enough for the XL kickers in the big park.

Ok.  Well, I can’t really think of much else to say.  I get all these ideas about websites and stuff, but it’s difficult doing research on it.  I’ve barely had time to write in my own blog, let alone sit down for a few hours to do some research (who can say SWOT analysis?!).  haha. 

So I work for a bank (a credit union, actually).  I also work in their call centre.  When you call your bank and ask about transactions, balances, etc. then I’m the guy on the other end of the line.  It isn’t always easy here, so here are a few things that people need to understand, and maybe you’ll get some tips on how to get your bank to work harder for you next time;

1. Be prepared 
   There have been so many occasions where people will call in with a long list of requests but cannot, for the life of them, come up with an account number.  Your account number is what sets you apart from everyone else.  Look you up by name?  Do you know how many John Carters and Bal Sandhus we have?!  Sorry bud, get the account statement that we give you every month, or the debit card that we provided you with so you can buy stuff, then maybe we can help you better
    
2. Shut the fuck up
   Let us get a few words out there.  Explain your problem as clearly and as consicely as you can and then let us give you our input.  We cannot help you when you cut us off after every third word. 
    
3. We’re not your psychiatrists
   We don’t want to hear your life story.  We don’t need to know how you got on disability.  We don’t need to know how you made a killing in the real estate market.  We don’t need to know how you lost money on your retirement investments (though it’s mostly likely because you didn’t listen to us ten years ago).  We just need to know what the problem is now and what you want us to do about it.  Give us that, then we’ll go from there to solve your problems.
    
4. Do NOT swear at us
   How basic is this?  If your mouth is dirtier than Britney’s vagina, then you’re not going to stand much of a chance at getting any decent help.  The really bad ones will have their accounts closed.  Don’t make us put a bar of soap in your mouth.
    
5. Just because you’re rich, doesn’t mean you’re better
   We believe in equality … we really do!  I’m not impressed with your $500,000 savings account if you’re going to treat me like OJ treated Nicole Brown.  The guy with $500 in his account and knows how to use the words “please” and “thank you” will get results quicker than you will.
    
6. Use a pen and paper
   If you can’t remember what I’m telling you, it would be a good idea to jot it down.  Most people will need to write down a 10-digit phone number if they need to refer to it.  How on earth are you going to remember the amounts of 10 different transactions? 
    
7. Privacy Laws are still LAWS
   Canada has quite a lengthy Privacy Act which prevents us from disclosing personal information to anyone who is not authorized to receive the information.  What this means is that if you haven’t set up an agreement with your bank saying that you are, in fact, allowed to receive information about an account, then do not assume you can receive in the information.  That means you cannot ask us where your son or daughter spent their money if you’re not a signer on the account, which brings me to my next point;
    
8. Become a joint signer or a Power of Attorney if you need access to an account
   This is the only way we can allow you access to an account.  To further clarify the word “only” means ONLY, as in there are NO other ways to get around it.
    
9. People make mistakes
   We are human and are capable of mistakes.  If you found an error in your account, bring it up with us in a calm collected manner and we will do our best to help you out.  We are not so conceited that we won’t admit mistakes, and we LOVE helping people who are not constantly throwing bitch fits.  However, if your temper is set off quicker than tabloids can get a picture of Katie Holmes’ shaved privates, then kiss your chances of a quick resolution GOOD-BYE
    
10. The Golden Rule
    My final point is to treat us how you want to be treated.  Everyone gets the service they deserve.  Simple, yeah?

So that’s as much as I can think of right now.  I’m sure many other people out there feel the same way about their own jobs.  Ever had a really bad experience with customers before?  Let me know