Tyler (Everything)

Update (Purchases)

I had big plans to write some year end blogs about all kinds of stuff. A year of Macdom, music for the year (SaddleCreek kicked ass with 3 really great releases: Hometowns, Feral Harmonic, Mama, I'm Swollen) and movies (Inglourious Basterds, and The Hurt Locker are the top two... Public Enemies gets most disappointing). But I'm too lazy, which also explains why I haven't posted in a while.

So I will just tell you about stuff I bought. I bought a new video camera. It's a Canon HF200. I'm pretty stoked on it so far, and only using the LCD is proving easier than I expected. The HD footage certainly is good, but a little tough to work with (editing wise).

Canon HF200

As well I bought a new (used) car. It's a 2008 Honda Element. I looked at a crap ton of vehicles recently since the lease on the Mazda is ending in April. Most of them were either too expensive or lacked features I required. A quick breakdown.

• Ford Edge - No headroom... Seriously worse than the Mazda
• Ford Escape - Just as bad
• Hyundai Santa Fe - Not Edge bad, but still not good
• Subaru Forester - Not much storage increase compared to the Mazda (this was second place)
• Mazda CX-7 - It's a Mazda. I'm not happy with my Mazda
• BMW X3 - Too pricey
• Subaru Tribeca - Kinda pricey

Anyway the list goes on. Second place was the Forester. Anyway, the Element won because it was cheapish, AWD, manual transmission, TONS OF STORAGE, and lots of head room. It loses on the ugly scale, oh well, but I did manage to find an all black one. It only has 31,000km on it, and after the deal was done I found out that I have 3 more years of warrantee and more  90,000km. Anyway, it is looking like it will fulfill the needs quite well.

Honda Element Storage

BestBuy.ca Ignores Their Own Policies

Two weeks ago I saw a great deal on the new Batman video game at BestBuy. I thought, oh well, what the hell I will give it a shot, I am a big Batman fan and it is supposed to be pretty cool. Regular price was $69.99 and the special pre-order price was $38.

So I ordered and waited patiently for it to ship. Well the release date came and went and there was no shipping notification. Strange. So I checked the status; Out Of Stock. That seemed strange. Isn't that a little counter productive for a pre-order? So in response I sent an email expressing my dismay to the BestBuy.ca customer support.

The response was this:

Dear Mr. Brown:

The manufacturer allots us a certain quantity of the product for pre-order based on their estimation of how many will sell.

With the popularity of this product their estimates fell far short of the demand. We are filling the orders in sequence, oldest orders first, while we wait on a new shipment of inventory from the manufacturer. We have not been given a definite ETA as to when we can expect this though.

We will be filling the orders as quickly as possible and appreciate your patience in this matter.

Sincerely,

Maggie
Agent ID 20985
Best Buy Canada

Again that seemed odd as it seems to defeat the purpose of the pre-order. So I dug a little deeper. Here is what I found on the BestBuy.ca pre-order portal:

BestBuy.ca Pre-Order Policy

That is exactly what the policy is:

Lining up for games is COOL. Not. When you pre-order online you're guaranteed a copy without the early morning drive. If you pre-order, you're getting your game; we don't oversell our pre-orders.

After I discovered this I called to inquire, after a lengthy conversation explaining to the customer service representative that they had violated their policy, I was told by the agent: "I don't know what to say". I suggested that perhaps I should speak to a manager. I explained myself again to the manager, who said that the problem was due to a computer glitch that allowed for extra copies to be sold. He said that I actually got lucky since it should have been shut down and I never should have received that price. As compensation for violating the policy they gave me 5% off the order and free shipping.

I am still not sure if that seems like reasonable compensation, as well I don't know if I will ever pre-order anything from BestBuy.ca again.

Sink Problem Update

Got the new drain assembly, looks like it should have flowed a lot worse than the standard grid drain. Worked like a charm. I was able to sleep last night!

That Sinking Feeling – Plumbing Nightmare?

I have been busting myself recently trying to get my basement reno finished. It is getting very much into the home stretch. Last night was not a good night for work. I am currently working on about 4 hours of sleep due to a very strange problem.

I was attempting to install a sink in the bathroom, one of the new vessel style sinks:

Vessel Link

Pretty straight forward. So everything got hooked up. One problem... It wouldn't drain?!?! I was terrified. The last thing I wanted to be doing was to start tearing apart walls looking for a clog. As a test I pulled the clean out on the P-Trap and it flowed no problem. Ugh Oh!

A few more tests. Filled up the sink a few more times. It would drain well for a bit, then it would slow to a stop part way down. Every few times that I tested it, there would be an air bubble then it would drain all the way down. Crap. Is there an high spot and an air lock in the wall? That would be bad. So I took the sink off and poured water directly into the P-Trap. Drained perfectly... So the problem was with the sink? I checked the drain to make sure there was no blocks. It was really easy to check. I have a grid style drain so I could look and blow straight through it.

Grid Style Drain:

Grid Style Drain

I was completely stumped. It seemed like the water was just dripping into the P-Trap. And I pretty much knew that the problem was between the sink and the trap.

I did a quick internet search. What did I find? All kinds of problem with grid style drains and vessel style sinks. The best explanation was this one:

The problem the OP is experiencing is due to the combination of a grid drain and a sink with no overflow. In order for the sink to drain properly, water must displace the air in the drain pipe going to the trap. In sinks with an overflow, the overflow acts as a vent allowing air to escape the drain pipe as water pours into the pipe through the drain.Without an overflow, the air in the pipe must escape through the same drain that the water is using. That is why you will see air bubbles coming up through the holes in the grid. Grid drains make the situation worse - probably due to the surface tension of the water interacting with the little holes in the grid to basically form little seals. Also grid drains tend to have less aperture area than umbrella valves. The more area the easier it is for the water and air to share the same drain.

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/bath/msg1100324329325.html

Sure enough sticking my hand in the water and spinning it (creating a vortex) caused it to drain perfectly. Alanna bought a new drain as per the recommendation from this forum post: http://www.askmehelpdesk.com/plumbing/new-non-vented-sink-vanity-install-drains-slow-253882.html.

Umbrella Style Drain

Regardless I am exhausted, frustrated, and a little pissed that the drain that came with my sink doesn't work.

On a happier sink note:

Crappy Turns Awesome: Cursive!

The summer of weddings is upon us! Originally there was supposed to be 3 weddings in the month of August, all of them in Toronto or further. One of the weddings was thankfully postponed for a year which left us with two weddings in August. Way more manageable. The one that was somewhat crappy was the one that is scheduled right on Alanna's birthday (Aug 2nd) on the Sunday night of a long weekend. It means that Alanna can't celebrate her bday on her bday - I still think she should wear a party hat to the wedding! - and being smack dab in the middle of the long weekend in Toronto, it ruins the long weekend. Real pain the butt right? Turns out no!

By a huge stroke of luck it turns out that my favorite band Cursive is playing a very rare Toronto date on the 1st! I can't believe how perfect the timing is, since really, even if we weren't supposed to be in Toronto I would have driven down for the show anyway!

So really this kills two birds with one stone, and really turns a crappy situation into an awesome one.

Some videos:

I Couldn't Love You from Cursive on Vimeo.

CURSIVE - BIG BANG from Cursive on Vimeo.

ART IS HARD from Cursive on Vimeo.

FUCK YOU KIJIJI!

I can't express how mad I am. So I post some of my electronics on Kijiji they having a fucking stupid policy of randomly selecting ads and putting them on hold for 24 hours before posting them (meaing that if you want to sell something quickly that Kijiji is fucking useless!)

Anyway, I wait the 24 hours an ad fucking finally gets posted, I don't see much action on it. So I update the price.

GETS FUCKING PULLED DOWN FOR ANOTHER 24 FUCKING HOURS! WHAT THE FUCK! KIJIJI IS FUCKING USELESS.

*sorry for the cursing, but I am really angry*

Property Line Fiasco

I'm building me a fence, and issues with my neighbours and the property line have been difficult to say the least. 

A few weeks ago I started planning out my new fence. I grabbed a copy of my property survey and a metric tape measure and went out to measure. I had a pretty good idea of where the property line was; some neighbours a few lots down had built some fences, there was  natural ditch between the properties, and the landscapers had laid grass to the middle (They laid my neighbour's grass first, then a year later they laid my grass).

My survey was very clear and easy to read, from the foundation to the edge of my property line on the west side of my house was 11.64m and on the east side it was 12.96m. So I started measuring. I carefully went out 11.64m. To my amazement I was in the middle of my neighbours yard! I measured from the opposite side of my house, and it was to the same line! I was quite worried, this was a solid 1-2 meters past the ditch, and past the grass line, which was also the line where the neighbours had built their fence!

I quickly started worrying that the survey was wrong. I spoke to a few people who all said that they had never heard about a survey being wrong. It was suggested that to back up my measurements I should find the iron bars that exist at the corners of the property that are put in the by the surveyer. 

I spent a few days trying to locate a metal detector; turns out that my friend Jim has one. He came out and we spent about 1.5 hours trying to locate the bars. Not much luck. We tried a new tact, and went out to where I measured the property line to be. Then tried the metal detector right there. Sure enough it hit. So we dug down about 8-10" and sure enough found the property bar. I measured from the house again, and it was acurate to the centimeter. 

I replaced the grass, and finished my measurements to mark the property line. It was at this point that I figured that some of my neighbours would be angry. My immediate neighbour to the rear had already planted a garden in my yard, and his neighbours a few doors down had built their fences a solid 4-5 feet over the property line. 

Over the next few days I saw a few neighbours staring questioningly at the stakes I had put in. I ignored them as I realized that I was right. 

This past Sunday, I went outside to finish planning my fence according to the property lines I had marked. As I was outside the lady who lives directly behind me came out to question my measurements. I explained that I had found the property bar, and that it matched exactly with my survey. She suggested that we should have someone professional do the work. I explained that my embossed copy of the property survey which has been registered with the city is about as professional as you can get. She asked to see the survey, I fetched a copy and explained exactly what I had found. She seemed content with my explanation. I proceeded outside to continue my planning.

No less than 5 minutes later, the husband of the same lady came storming out. He was yelling that I was ruining his lawn, and that I should 'Get off his property!. At this point, he began taking the stakes I had put in and throwing them towards my house. I explained to him that according to my survey, it was not his property, and that it was actually the property line. He continued to be upset telling me that it was his lawn, and that he could tell based on where his builder had installed the grass. I tried to explain that where the grass was installed meant nothing. I showed him my survey, at which point he asked where I got it; I explained that he should have received one from his builder.

He asked for a few days to get a survey and double check my measurements. I told him that I had no problem with it, but I wanted him to leave my stakes alone so that I could plan my fence.

The next day (yesterday), I went out to do some more work in the back planning the fence. The same neighbour came out and told me that he had his survey and that my measurement was closer then he expected. He said I was over by about a foot. I knew this wasn't the case, but was pleased that he was caving. I started to explain that with the property bar I had found, that I had the exact line. Just as he was about to argue again my nextdoor neighbour Mitch appeared like a white knight; a wrinkled survey in one hand, a can of beer in the other, and a cigarette dangling from his mouth. He told my neighbour not to argue because he had measured and I was bang on. 

This was the perfect ice breaker, I offered to show the opposing neighbour what I meant, we looked at Mitch's survey which showed that it was 11.64m from the corner of the house to the property bar, I measured with my metric tape measure, and showed him that it was exact to the centimeter.  Mitch then started explaining to me that the other neighbour to the rear had come out to tell him, that my measurements were 'way off'. Mitch explained to him, that according to his survey, my measurements were correct. Mitch had asked to see the other neighbours survey, at which point he apparently told Mitch he didn't have one. Mitch told him to not argue without any evidence to back him up.

As I was discussing with Mitch, we saw the other neighbour measuring from his house again. I was shocked! He was pacing it out! He had the nerve to argue with my measurements and the placement of the property stakes, and he was PACING IT OUT! I offered him my metric tape, but he declined. I asked what his survey measurement was, and he told me it was 8.23m according to his survey. That made perfect sense according to the measurements I had made. 

A few hours later he came back out to me and told me that he had measured a few more times, and he conceded that I was correct, and that he would make plans to move his garden. 

It is a great relief to me that my greatest opposition has conceded the fight, but the more interesting element will be the other neighbours further down the row who have already built their fences, and their fences go well past the end of their property. I will post updates for future battles here.

I am still shocked that so many people are willing to argue, complain, and build fences without ever looking at their property survey! Anyway, this has been an entertaining few weeks.