Site visitors in November 2006

Top 5 visitors, listed by country, in November were:

1) United States,
2) Canada,
3) Australia,
4) European Union,
5) Switzerland.

The full list: visitors in November 2006.

Statistics for previous months: follow this link.

R32 review

A few days ago I found a couple reviews of the 2004 R32 that I hadn't seen, yet. You can read them by following this link. The more recent ones I uploaded are from Carsguide.com.au and Cincinnati.com, both originally published in 2004. I was hesitant about uploading the review of the Australian R32, but what the heck.

Here's an excerpt from the Cincinnati.com review:

"Whether navigating city streets or bounding up twisty roads, the R32 feels nimble, quick and composed. The steering is taut and direct, throttle response is brisk, and the low-profile (225/40 R18) tires stay married to the road."

Perception versus reality

I sympathize with Kendall Myers who appears likely to be reprimanded in some manner for comments he made regarding the current U.S.-Britain relationship. Myers is a U.S. State Department senior analyst who reportedly said that Blair's attempts to influence the Bush administration policies were typically ignored and taken no notice of, despite Blair having been a close ally of Bush since 9/11 (Bush routinely ignoring Blair).

I have no idea whether Myers' role in the State Department put him in a position to know what he was talking about, or whether his words are a true reflection of reality. Nevertheless, it does match with my perception of current U.S.-British relations--an extremely lopsided relationship in favour of the United States. I often think that how a particular person or issue is perceived has much more influence in politics than whatever the reality may be--regrettable, but a disconnect politicians certainly try to take advantage of.

Anywhoo, Myers may or may not have been wrong, and have shown lack of judgment in saying what he did while still on the clock, but he didn't say anything I hadn't been thinking already. In this case, perhaps perception does reflect reality.

E-mail + spam = headache

I was dismayed but not very surprised when I read this CNN article which basically says that 9 out of 10 e-mails sent worldwide are spam. For the past month or so the e-mail address I used for my website has been inundated with spam, at least 20 per day. I was finally so fed up with it I dropped that e-mail address and created another, making sure this time not to make it a hyperlink (i.e. comments AT r32argent.ca). I figure most people are savvy enough these days to know what that means.

Unfortunately, that didn't completely solve my problem. One of the e-mail addresses I use solely for personal contacts has recently been receiving spam, too. Since this particular address was never used for mailing lists, online shopping, forum sign-ups et cetera, I'm assuming someone's computer with my e-mail in their address book is now an unwilling participant in a 'zombie network'. Ugh.

Remember to keep your antivirus programs and firewalls up-to-date, please. And if you aren't using either... why the heck not!?

Power Steering Fluid

Yesterday I topped up the power steering fluid in my R. It was the first time I checked it, and it has now officially joined my monthly to do list. Follow the link for additional details.

Trouble with Fedex

Recently I've had to deal with some frustration caused by Fedex. Despite the occasional hiccup, I've been using Fedex exclusively (actually, now that I think about it, I use USPS, too) whenever I need to ship personal items. The most glaring hiccup being several years ago: I was waiting for some unique documents from Hong Kong to arrive in Canada and after having confirmed with the sender that the envelope had been shipped I finally called Fedex to request the status of my package. To my astonishment, Fedex informed me that they had already delivered the package several days ago. As a recipient's signature was required to accept the delivery, I felt comfortable in saying no, it had not. Anywhoo, to cut this story short--it's not even the main plot of this post--it turns out Fedex had simply left my envelope outside my front door... in the rain... this is winter weather in Vancouver that I'm talking about here. Did I mention someone was supposed to have to *sign* in order to take delivery?! Wangos.

Well, a couple years passed before I dared, or had the need, to use Fedex, again, and for a while everything has worked well. But now doubts have resurfaced.

9th November: I came home from work and discovered a 54" x 12" x 12" tall Fedex package sitting in front of my door. What the heck? I checked the delivery address, and Fedex had left this massive package in front of the wrong door... in the wrong building. At least they had the right street. My first thought was to contact the correct address via property management but no, the thought of doing for free what Fedex had been paid to do irked me.

I phoned Fedex. Very helpful, very quick to talk to a live person. They apologized, thanked me for calling, and told me someone would pick up the package the next day. Great!

10th November: Hmmm, the package is still in front of my door. I'm feeling generous and give them another day.

11th November: Nope... it's still there.

12th November: In the evening I phone Fedex. Very helpful, very quick to talk to a live person. They apologized, thanked me for calling, and told me someone would pick up the package the next day. Wonderful.

13th November: Uhhh, where are you, Fedex?

14th November: ........

15th November: In the evening I phone Fedex... again. Very helpful, very quick to talk to a live person. They apologized, thanked me for calling, and told me someone would pick up the package the next day.

I remind them how long I've been waiting, and ask what I should do if they don't pick it up tomorrow. Can I get rid of it? Fedex avoided answering and assured me they would pick it up the next day. Right.

16th November: Wangos.

17th November: I phone Fedex. This time I get bumped up to a supervisor/manager person. She apologizes profusely--talking a mile a minute--and says she doesn't understand why the package isn't being picked up. Guess what? I don't understand it, either. She says she is going to leave a message for the Fedex manager of my area and the package will definitely be picked up tomorrow. I'll believe it when I see it, or, to be accurate, when I don't see it.

18th November: I seriously reconsider my decision not to contact property management and get them to arrange for the package to be delivered to the correct address. But if the thought of doing Fedex's work irked me before, you can just imagine how I feel about it now.

19th November: I phone Fedex. It takes a while for the rep to skim through the report/past history. She tells me that according to the record the local Fedex people tried to phone me to confirm time of pick-up. But since I have no voicemail, they e-mailed me, instead.

I'm too flabbergasted to make all the rebuttals that flashed through my mind. I just mention one to her, "How would they know my e-mail address?" Her reply, after a long pause, "I don't know".

"Why do they need to phone me?" I asked, and explain as I had all the times previously that the package was just sitting outside my door. Running through my mind is the thought that if they want my signature or anything I'm going to take the stupid thing and throw it in the trash. "I don't know," was the answer.

[The other points I wish I had made at that time were 1) I *do* have voicemail, and 2) I also have caller ID, which tells me who called and when, regardless of whether they leave a message and no, Fedex did *not* call me]

Anywhoo, she can't promise me they'll pick it up on Monday, but they'll try. But... Hallelujah! I finally, *finally* get Fedex to say that if they don't pick it up by Tuesday evening I can throw it away. Yippee!

20th November: I'm actually looking forward to tomorrow... Trash Day. I feel slightly guilty about the addressee losing their package, but I'm way too annoyed at Fedex to let that stop me.

21st November: I come home and... it's gone? I have mixed feelings. Relieved I don't have to lug it down three flights of stairs and down the street to the trash bin, but at the same time regretful that I won't be able to. I got over it. ;o)

So... this whole thing took, what, a week and a half? This latest incident wasn't even my package, so it's not like I'd been eagerly waiting for a delivery, or needed someone to receive something urgently--no tangible emotional or monetary investment on my part. But it's still made me very hesitant about using Fedex in the future. I guess next up to bat is UPS.

My favourite actor

James Stewart (1908-1997) is my all-time favourite actor (though in regards to his politics I generally differ). Anywhoo, I mention this because I was pleasantly surprised to find a recent article on James Stewart on CNN. From the movies I've seen, and what I've read, I greatly admire Stewart as both actor and person.

You can find his filmography here. He's made some great movies, and some not-so-great movies, but I enjoyed watching all of them. Well, to be perfectly clear, I did think a couple of the movies were pretty poor--but Stewart's presence made those particular films bearable ;o)