Keebler/Blog » Uncategorized

My Busted Tees shipping to Canada goes through Sweden (UPDATED)

Jonathan — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 04:48:34 +0000

I ordered a hilarious shirt from Busted Tees on March 4th and it just got here today. In the end, they took 6 weeks to get two tshirts to Toronto, Canada (not even a little town or anything).

On their FAQ page they say, “International orders can take 2-3 weeks.” I emailed them after 2.5 weeks and I got this reply (within a day, to their credit):

Recently it has been taking up to 4-6 weeks for orders to be delivered in Canada because of the security checks that it must go through to get through customs

I patiently waited another 3 weeks and finally I got the package jammed in my mailbox today. But check out the seal on the envelope: “Posten Sverlge AB Internation Mail”. SWEDEN?! What the heck was my shirt doing in Sweden?!

I think the next time I want a hilarious tshirt, I’ll just wear my industry schwag and save myself 6 weeks. Of course, very few of my shirts have been to Sweden, so I’d like to think this one is kinda special

Welcome aboard, buddy. Sorry ’bout the pits

UPDATE 4/13/2007: Less than 24 hours after this blog entry first appeared, Busted Tees sent me a personal email apologizing for the “human error” that sent my shirt on the scenic route to Canada through Sweden, and refunding me the full shipping amount. I really wasn’t going to bug them about it, since I’ve had online orders from the States take weeks-and-weeks to arrive before. But it was great of them to take an interest in what the online world is saying, and try to rectify the situation.

For the record, I will order from Busted Tees again, and they remain the best source of funny dinosaur shirts

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Please don’t invade us by sea

Jonathan — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 04:15:00 +0000

I couldn’t believe what the CBC was reporting today: there are only two Canadian navy ships out at sea!

The navy had earlier said that all but two ships on the East and West Coasts are tied up. HMCS Ottawa is in the Persian Gulf, and HMCS Charlottetown is out performing sea trials.

I call on the international community: please don’t invade us. We’re a kind, clean people with a love of hockey and beer. We also have an abundance of bears and beavers with which to barter

My sincere thanks, Keebler

F— You StopBadware.org…and Google

Jonathan — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 05:00:20 +0000

WARNING: THIS BLOG POSTING WAS WRITTEN IN ANGER

My buddy, Joe, just pointed out that my blog is now considered “badware” by the idiots over at StopBadware.org. These d1ck-heads have some problem with my blog, and have blacklisted me on Google (this is what people see when I search for my blog).

Google has totally become Alpha-and-Omega on this one. They index my site and put my high-resolution photos in their image search to drive traffic so my Google Ads are shown, and now they are blocking my traffic! The worst part is that their stupid ass site won’t resolve on my ISP so I can’t even check what their problem is. “OMG, censor the Web much Google?” F#$@ you and your sh1t. I’m using Yahoo. Oh, and try sending my cheques to the correct address for once you idiots. You owe me $120, d1ck-monkies!

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High Point Equestrian Residences

Jonathan — Sun, 29 Oct 2006 23:31:59 +0000

The Vancouver Sun had a cool article about these new “equestrian residences” going up near Vancouver called High Point.

He says before he got to know the area he’d planned on a golf course community. But after talking to people he replaced fairways with stables.

I’ve been horseback riding in Toronto for two years now and, while I love the sport, it’s definitely tricky to keep it up in a major city. You either have to pay insane amounts for a stable in the city, or take on the added cost of a vehicle (and time) to commute out to the “boonies” (sorry, Milton ). I couldn’t imagine having a stable right in my backyard when I got home after a 30-minute commute from downtown. “Damnit, Vancouver! Why must you keep trying to lure me in?!”

High Point

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Free Starbucks Iced Drink Promotion

Jonathan — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 21:32:35 +0000

People have been buzzing at work all day (possibly because of the coffee) about this promotional coupon from Starbucks that has been going around. According to Snopes, it has since been rescinded by Starbucks, but I can vouch for the fact that at 3:30pm today, the Starbucks’ here are still accepting it. So go forth, and stick to to The Man for me Limit of one free iced drink (I recommend the shaken iced tea) per visit!

I’m going to be really pissed if this just turns out to be some viral marketing experiment by Starbucks…

UPDATE: Starbucks sued for pulling offer

Urban Legends Reference Pages: Free Starbucks Iced Grande Coupon

Starting today until September 30th, please join us in “surprising and delighting” our family and friends, while introducing you to our iced beverages. Attached is an invitation for a complimentary iced Grande beverage. Please forward this invitation to everyone in your email address book.

(Thanks Darko)

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Lightning Storm in Toronto Photo

Jonathan — Wed, 09 Aug 2006 02:54:17 +0000

This is an amazing photo by Sam Javanrouh of the lightning storm that hit Toronto last week. Makes me think I probably shouldn’t have been walking around outside that night….

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Zipcar Car Sharing

Jonathan — Thu, 06 Jul 2006 22:16:12 +0000

I’ve been waiting to hit the tender age of 25 to use AutoShare, but along came Zipcar that only requires you to be 21+! w00t! I can finally leave this smog-infested, hell-hole I call The City Casino Niagara, here I come!

Zipcar – Car sharing, cars by the hour or day

Zipcars live in your neighborhood! Drive MINIs, VWs, cars that haul and more. By the hour or day. Includes gas, insurance, and parking. Simply reserve online, walk a block and drive away.

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Coralizing a Wordpress Install to Save Bandwidth and Resources

Jonathan — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 01:07:42 +0000

Lately I’ve been getting insane traffic from Google Images and my host, HostForWeb, has been getting pissed off. The problem isn’t the bandwidth per-se, but the processing power required to render every page of my blog (complete with several hits to a MySQL database).

I don’t have the cash for a dedicated hosting package, so after being suspended for overpowering my shared-hosting box, I had to find a way to reduce the server-load or risk losing Keebler/Blog. That’s when I decided to turn to my old friend, The (free) Coral Content Distribution Network.

I’ve talked about Coral before, but I hadn’t tried to use them with WordPress until now. Their wiki has a way to use mod_rewrite to Coralize your pages, but in my case, I wanted to make sure only the breadth of my site (pages that don’t update that frequently, but could be hit with large amounts of traffic) was Coralized, while maintaining all the keebler.net URLs as much as possible. My solution was to add the following to the .htaccess file in the root directory of my blog, right after the line “RewriteBase /blog/”:

RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} !^(CoralWebPrx|Googlebot)
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} !(^|&)coral-no-serve$
RewriteRule ^([0-9]{4})/([0-9]{1,2})/([0-9]{1,2})/([^/]+)/?([0-9]+)?/?$ http://www.keebler.net.nyud.net:8090/blog/index.php?year=$1&monthnum=$2&day=$3&name=$4&page=$5 [L]

Note that I’ve also allowed the Googlebot to index my site so it understands that all my content still belongs to keebler.net.

Using this method, all the individual blog entry pages will be Coralized, while the main page, archive pages, images, etc. will not be affected. Whenever someone follows a permalink on my blog, they will be redirected to the Coral cache of that page. The result is one hit to my server for every permalink page. If bandwidth becomes a problem, I can add another RewriteRule to cache images as well.

The downsides to this method are the “funny looking” keebler.net.nyud.net:8090 URLs that people might see, as well as a wait before comments appear on the site (since the pages are cached). However, that’s a small price to pay to keep Keebler/Blog on shared hosting Common, you’d miss it

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Painted Room Illusions

Jonathan — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 22:01:28 +0000

*pulls out a classic* “Woah” (in Keanu Reeves voice). Wait, wait…I can do that better. *clears throat* “WOah”. Oh yeah, that’s the stuff. Mmmm

Compfused.com – Painted Room Illusions

Rooms painted so that if you stand in just the right place a hidden pattern emerges.

(Thanks Evan)

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Katee Sackhoff and I Say Goodbye

Jonathan — Fri, 10 Feb 2006 03:00:47 +0000

It might be the sun-burn talking, but I just wanted to take a moment and give a very fond farewell to Chris.

It’s been a great two years fighting it out in the trenches with you, and I wish you all the best in the future. The Box just won’t be the same without you. Don’t be a stranger…or I’ll use those keys to your apartment I stole

If you ever need anything, just let me know. Semper phi, good buddy. Semper phi.

Private Healthcare in Canada vs. the NDP

Jonathan — Wed, 18 Jan 2006 05:27:31 +0000

I watched Jack Layton on CBC’s The National tonight and I was really struck by how the questions he was asked, closely match my own questions. If a Liberal candidate is ahead in one’s riding, isn’t a vote for NDP just a vote for the Conservatives? Why does the NDP keep attacking the Liberals (who were vindicated to a degree in the Gomry inquiry), while leaving the Conservatives — the greater threat to NDP values — largely alone?

A swing-voter myself, and someone considering a strategic vote against the Conservatives in the upcoming election, I have to admit that the NDP probably more closely matches my personal values, moreso than any of the other parties. Then he started talking about Healthcare From my perspective as the son of a doctor, it doesn’t seem like Jack Layton understands modern healthcare. When an audience member said that he didn’t agree with the NDP stand on private healthcare (an absolute block of any public funds to it), Mr. Layton went into his common argument that all we need to do to fix healthcare is train more nurses and doctors and “janitors”, and pay them a good wage. He said that the money that a private clinic would use to pay dividends, was extra money that could be given to the healthcare workers.

His plan seems reasonable for a Canada of the mid-20th century, but modern medicine requires a massive investment in technology with costs well beyond the wages of janitors, or nurses, or even doctors. Medical technology (and I’m thinking about medical imaging technology as a good example) is ever improving, just like our personal computers at home. There’s always a newer, better, faster machine available. But while a slow PC may just slow down your framerate in Wolfenstein, having last year’s MRI machine could literally be the difference between life and death in radiation treatment.

The reality is that we live in a free-market economy. Medical technology is built by corporations that require massive investments, and require profits to show to their stockholders. The newest technological innovations cost money; more money then could reasonably be extracted by taxes in this country. When Tommy Douglas first proposed universal healthcare in this country, healthcare consisted of doctors, nurses and janitors. We are so far from that simple vision, and we can’t simply throw more people at the problem. As Canadians, we have to be mature about the fact that we can no longer afford the services we demand of our healthcare system (for free). It’s very easy to blame small percentage cuts to healthcare budgets for the problems we face, and I’m sure that that money is desperately needed. In fact, anyone whose has had to wait in an emergency room lately knows that. But even a massive increase in funding (at the expense of another area of course), could not correct the imbalance. Our free-market society requires a solution that is rooted in that reality. Enter private healthcare.

I think the scariest part of private healthcare for most people is the fear that the moment the wealthy start paying for their medical treatments, the best and the brightest in the healthcare industry will be drawn to the new capital and with good reason. Private clinics will have the latest medical equipment, and the best doctors, nurses, beds, rooms, wait times, elective services, etc. Very quickly, only poorer Canadians will use the public healthcare system. The dream of universal healthcare — the dream that our society will help anybody that is sick — will begin to crack.

But will we be worse off? If we continue to tax Canadians at current levels, we will have the same amount of money, but fewer people to provide services to. Also, the government can impose regulations on the private healthcare section. These can take the form of taxation (recognizing that the private clinics have to be profitable or it’s not worth it for them) or by working with the private clinics to provide a percentage of services to the public. For example, a private MRI clinic could accept paying customers for 4 days a week,and the public for 1 day a week, thus reducing the load/waiting-lists for the public sector by two means: more clinics providing the service (an extra day on the machine) and less people seeking the service (wealthier people will pay to jump the public waiting list). The system will be reigned in by the fact that if the public system finds a way to reduce waiting times, wealthier people will no longer have an incentive to use the private clinics. The private clinics will naturally move on to other services that have longer public wait-times, and by competing with them, help to strengthen the public-service.

I’m not an expert in healthcare; I’m not an expert in government expenditures. But in a country that is bounded by operating in a free-market, we have to compete based in that reality. Healthcare should serve to enable access to services, not deny them.

I still might vote NDP. I do believe they can act as a check to Conservative party, more than the Liberals who are unaccustomed to working in opposition. The NDP’s plan for healthcare could never be advanced to the point that I would have a problem with it. If they are just after more money at this point, I’m sure that money could be used immediately. But I still haven’t heard a realistic plan to fix healthcare from any of the parties. If we want a solution that works within the realities of today, we should be encouraging genuine discussion of every possibility, including privitization. I wouldn’t want to die because the hospital that is treating me doesn’t have the equipment that’s on next year’s budget.

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Happy New Year!

Jonathan — Sat, 31 Dec 2005 22:54:25 +0000

I’ve been living off-the-grid for this week but I wanted to pop up to say “Happy New Year” to everyone! May the new year be bright with… I dunno… kittens or something… ya know, good stuff… Yah….Happy New Year

(I dunno what-is-with this photo, but it seemed mildly appropriate)

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Merry Christmas

Jonathan — Sun, 25 Dec 2005 18:24:01 +0000

A warm Merry Christmas to all my loyal pervs and/or geeks Now go get some turkey or something… Mmmmmm… turkey…..

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Domain Expires and Almost Screws Me

Jonathan — Thu, 15 Dec 2005 22:44:55 +0000

Omg, I’m sooooo lucky I got my domain back when it just expired. Live by my mistakes, SET THE AUTO-RENEW BUTTON WITH YOUR REGISTRAR! Big thanks goes out to RegisterFly who got my domain back within 2 hours. I know they have their problems (contacting them sometimes) but they have been a great registrar for me. I swear, there isn’t a gun to my head. (HELP ME!)

Now here’s a photo of Jennifer Garner for Mike who first noticed it was down

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Remembrance

Jonathan — Fri, 11 Nov 2005 14:02:45 +0000

Remembrance ...
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51 Sent Emails Today!

Jonathan — Mon, 07 Nov 2005 22:58:15 +0000

I can’t believe how many emails I sent today at work. I’m up to 51 and the day isn’t even over! Tonight I’m going home and writing by candle-light or something. Sheesh!

How many emails do you guys normally send a day?

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Keeping Fish in the Office

Jonathan — Wed, 05 Oct 2005 01:03:08 +0000

We were considering getting a Betta fish for the office at work today, and a lot of people were saying things like “Bettas like small bowls” and “You don’t have to feed a fish over the weekend.” Seemed a little crazy to me so I did some Googling. Needless to say, they are wrong. Of course fish like space to move about and feed every day! In fact, Bettas are very social (my home fishie, Archie, follows me around in his bowl when I’m home) and would get lonely on weekends, like your tranny-hookers during the week.

My mission is now clear, I must free my Betta-brethern from their jars of captivity, to gorge themselves on the three gallon trough of freedom For now, we got a plant instead.

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Swiss Chalet VIP

Jonathan — Fri, 23 Sep 2005 00:12:17 +0000

You know you might be ordering a little bit too much Swiss ~~Pidgeon~~ Chalet when they invite you to join their VIP program Either way, KA-CHING!

Features of the VIP program (from their flier):

special email offers (great, more spam)
priority call answering (bumped to the front of the queue)
standing orders (schedule delivery — that might be a little lazy, even for me)

If you’re not special like me, you can still try to join by telling them you got the flier but you can’t register on the web for some reason. You can reach them at swissguestservices@cara.com or 1-866-450-2903.

If you aren’t fortunate enough to live in a country rich with the bounty of Swiss Chalets, I am truely sorry. You see it’s not the chicken, it’s the sauce…Mmmm…sauce… If I was rich, I’d cover my entire body with sauce and have supermodels lick it off. We all have to dream

Swiss Chalet

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Scifi Convention

Jonathan — Sat, 27 Aug 2005 20:42:05 +0000

I went to the SFX scifi convention today. Never have I been so weirded out by little girls. The things I saw…that’s just not right!

I did stand within 1 metre (that’s as close as I get to human contact) of Troi (if she really was an empath, I would have gotten slapped), Hoshi Sato (who is smok’n hot. ‘Nuff said), and Lt. Tuvok (who was smiling! WTF! You’re a vulcan! That could kill you!). My Star Trek bone is tingling, by which I mean my white ass. That’s not all that’s tingling though; check out what someone slipped me on my way out (below)! [INSERT COMMENT THAT COULD POSSIBLY GET ME FIRED HERE] and a tub of whipped cream!

P.S. Don’t worry, I got in for free. I wouldn’t pay (Earth) dollars for it

"Hi Jonathan, Who are you? Let’s meet Kim Poirier"

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The Freecycle Network

Jonathan — Tue, 09 Aug 2005 00:12:41 +0000

This takes dumpster-diving to a whole new level, but you have to respect the type of world they aspire to create. I aspire to do supermodels but I guess we all have our priorities

The Freecycle Network(tm) – Changing the world, one gift at a time.

How does it work? When you want to find a new home for something — whether it’s a chair, a fax machine, piano, or an old door — you simply send an e-mail offering it to members of your Freecycle group. Or, maybe you’re looking to acquire something yourself. Simply respond to a member’s offer, and you just might get it. After that, it’s up to the giver to decide who receives the gift and to set up a pickup time for passing on the treasure. One main rule: Everything posted must be free, legal, and appropriate for all ages.

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