If you were given two options which would you pick:

1. Get shot with a hand gun
2. Get shot with a taser

If you like me, you’d probably pick the tazer, granted, neither would be much fun. With the options of bullet ripping through my body, with an end result most likely being death, compared to being electrocuted with the end result most likely being life – I pick taser!.

I am so entirely sick of people complaining about the use of tasers – its all over the news these days, but tasers are a good thing. Look at all the criminals who have been stopped dead in their tracks with a taser, who otherwise would have been shot and likely killed… hmm… criminals killed, perhaps that isn’t such a bad thing?

When an officer is in danger, and he tazes someone to stop the attack, he gets criticized over its use. Now, what are the alternatives… He could do nothing and let the criminal attack and maybe kill him, or he could fire a bullet in his ass.

Hello people! Tasers, while they have their risks etc, are far more human than shooting someone.

The next time you hear about someone being tazed and want to complain, ask yourself, what if that were a bullet.

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P.S. I am not sure if it is “taSer” or “taZer”. Pretty sure its taSer, although I see it being used both ways. Which version do you use?

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I have to say I do watch my fair share of reality television. I am not a true Survivor fan, I miss it now and then, but for the most part I do tend to watch this show, and enjoy it. As for most of the others out there, I can do without them, the Bachelor can go away, I can’t stand it. When my wife has Americas Next Top Model on, I leave the room I dislike it so much. The only reality show that I do try to watch each and every week is the Amazing Race, My wife got me into this one, and now I can’t miss it.

My wife is also into the Biggest Loser. This is one of those shows that I don’t mind watching, but would never turn it on if it was just me alone with the TV. I watch it because my wife likes it and I don’t mind it, but it is not something I would choose. The problem with most reality shows, especially with the Biggest Loser, is the recaps they do after each and every commercial. Why do they feel it is necessary to recap everything that happened right before the commercial break, including a full repeat of at least a minute of the show! Hello, I JUST watched this. Why must they repeat themselves, why all the filler? Sooooo annoying.

Really the only part of the biggest loser that I find interesting is the final weigh-in at the end of each show. I am truly amazed at the amount of weight these people can lose in such a short time, it really is incredible. Last night, before revealing the weight of the final contestant, the show was “to be continued”. Give me a break – the show was already 2 hours long, and now you have to wrap it till next week?? Why not just cut some of the filler! Its things like this that make me want to boycott the show.

There seem to be more and more of these reality shows popping up, and then the networks go and cancel well written shows like “Life on Mars”, but that’s another blog post all together.

The last time I checked it was the end of February – Boxing day is about 10 months away, but still, for some stupid reason, The Brick has their “Boxing Day” sale on now! What the F is that all about?

It’s NOT Boxing day! Hello Brick, get real already. Cant you wait till October like you usually do – sure its not boxing day then either, but at least its within a couple months.

Save the Boxing Day sale for Dec 26 – if you want to have a sale in February, call it a Valentines sale, or February sale, or “it’s almost spring” sale, or something.

You’re as bad as Walmart – putting up their Easter display on February 15th.

When you are eating dinner and the phone rings, do you answer it? I know some people that don’t, but I for some reason, do – and in most cases will talk with the person, at least briefly, interrupting my dinner. The telephone interrupts my favorite TV programs, family time, work hours, and sleep. – it’s really a nuisance.

Sure I could unplug it, or turn off the ringer – but then how would people call me? I am learning to hate this device, but the reliance on it, and all technology has me hooked. I can’t even leave home without my cell phone – what if something happens, I have to have my phone with me. I hardly ever use our cell, but yet it follows me everywhere. What’s going on with this world? It’s almost like the telephone is a virus we can’t escape. When it rings I think, “Ah crap, who is it now.”

I am constantly checking my email, and spend probably half my life sitting in front of a computer or television. Sure I work on the computer, so that’s an easy 8 hours a day – but why must I watch TV, or use my laptop during my free time. I am sure that all this technology is causing mass tumors to grow in my brain.

My favorite part of vacations is that we often go to places without telephones. We’ll hit up Pacific Village in Tofino once a year – beach front cabins without TV’s, radios, or telephones. I leave my cell turned off, and watch in the car. Complete isolation from technology. Those vacations are the best times of my life. No email, no phone calls, no commercials telling me I need to call Sam. (That lawyer guy in Michigan – you know the jingle: “You can talk to Sam. 1-800-call Sam”. Grrr. Go away Sam Bernstein.).

Sometimes I wish I could go back in time to a land before all this dependence on technology – but then how would I watch Judge Judy?

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I can’t account for all areas of the country and the world, but I would like to thank the city of Courtenay for doing their best when it comes to snow removal this year.

Courtenay has been hit with more snow and colder weather than is normal, and crews are out like crazy plowing etc. It’s driving me crazy that so many people are complaining about a poor job being done, but hello people, there are only so many plows, and only so many employees. Be grateful for what they are able to accomplish.

The only way to do a better job would be to have the city hire more people, and buy more equipment, which would mean a hike in your taxes, and I guarantee you would complain about that too, so SIUP (Suck It Up Princess) and quit complaining to the paper.

I hate email spammers. I mean, I really hate them. As if it’s not bad enough to have my inbox bombarded with spam every day, now they are starting to have a larger negative impact on my life.

I recently went to send an email to a friend only to have the email bounce back. It seems the ISP has flagged and banned my IP for having a “poor reputation”. Innocent me, and everyone else who has behaved on the IP, are now faced with troubles as the result of one bad egg.

I guess this is just one of those risks that comes with having a shared IP. Wind up sharing with a spammer and get your IP banned.

As a result I have requested a different shared IP from my web host, and they replied saying that my only option was to purchase a dedicated IP. It’s a minimal expense, but one I wish I could pass on to the spammer that is making it necessary for me to make the purchase. How frustrating.

Have you ever paid “regular price” for anything? If so, you’re a sucker – and well, I guess that makes me a sucker too.

What is regular price? Well, it’s whatever price a retail store decides to stick on a product at any given time. Sure manufacturers set the MSRP (manufacturer suggested retail price) but stores are under no obligation to meet this price – it’s only meant as a guide.

You have to love the fact that just before a sale, the regular price seems to magically increase to make the sale price look better. When I was doing my Christmas shopping, one of the gifts I bought my wife was a new waterproof digital camera (The Olympus 850). The price has come down a ton since I first saw it about a year ago. Regular price last week at Future shop was $229. In their ad a week later they had it on sale for $199, BUT they also say “Save $50”. Last time I checked, that was actually a difference of $30, not $50.

Now if you called them on it, they may say, it was a flyer typo or something, but I have seen this happen time and time again, make the sale look better than it is by raising the regular price so people will be more likely to buy it. To me that equals a big time scam, and I am not so sure its legal.

(For the record I went to Walmart to buy it and they matched the Future Shop price – I hate Walmart, but I hate FutureShop more. I like London drugs (sometimes), but they wouldn’t match the price cause I wanted the orange camera and the one in the ad was black – Walmart didn’t care about the color).

Never, ever, buy anything that is not on sale, unless you desperately need it. Sales are stupid these days, they don’t make sense. Everything comes on sale at least once a month – what’s the point? All it does it cause us consumers to have no understanding of what regular price really is. If you pay regular price on anything, you’re getting ripped off because in a couple weeks it will be on sale again.

I have seen cases where the “sale” price is actually the MSRP – what’s up with that? Or better yet, the sale price is some stupid amount, say 5%, or 10%. Ten percent? That’s the best you can do? I can get 10% off just about anything at any time. Several years ago I used to work at Office Depot. Management gave us the authority to take 10% off the price of any item (some exceptions) for anyone, for just about any reason. If a customer walked in and wanted to buy a monitor but seemed unsure on the price, you could drop it 10% just like that. I can only assume that many other retail outlets have this authority given to their employees – and if they don’t, I can pretty much guarantee that management could drop the price for you.

Sure you’d have to take the effort to ask, but the mere fact that you can get it any time shows that the 10% “sale” price is not really a sale now is it. Give us a real sale, give us 50% off, or we’ll go to the store that will. It’s a recession people, these businesses will take just about any offer providing it is high enough for them to still turn a profit. If you walk they make nothing, if they drop the price, they make something.

I would be tempted to just move out to the woods in some secluded cabin with no contact with the outside world, hunting for my food, and burning wood to cook and keep warm. The problem is I like my stuff, I like my technology, and I like my modern conveniences. I guess I, along with everyone else living in the modern world, am prisoner to these retail stores and will be for the rest of my life.

BTW, Incase you are interested, this blog post was inspired by the photo below posted over at FailBlog.

I have noted in a recent post that I love Christmas time, everything about it – such a happy time of year.

In the past I have decorated my car, nothing fancy, just a few lights, and a bow. It’s been a few years, and this year I decided to do it again. I put up some Christmas lights in the back window. Since putting them up I have had numerous smiles and compliments from people. Everyone seems to love it. Except the certain cop who pulled me over last week. Now I am a hardend criminal.

Apparently Christmas lights are “unauthorized lights” and subject to an $81 fine. You have to be kidding me. What a joke. I was fortunate enough to only get a warning, no fine this time, so perhaps there is some Christmas spirit in the officer, but still.

The lights are up for only a few short weeks – if I was a cop I am pretty sure I would turn a blind eye to this sort of festive behavior. Oh well – she didn’t complain about the bow in my front grill or the mini-stocking on the rear view mirror, so that’s a good thing I suppose. At least I tried to be festive.

Andy Williams said it best, it really is “the most wonderful time of the year“. As I look out my window I see a ton of freshly fallen snow, and more coming down to join it. I love the snow, I love the cold, and I love the holiday season. Wait. No, I love Christmas Time. There I said it. Christmas.

Everywhere you go people are saying “Happy Holidays”, “Seasons Greetings”, etc, but nobody says “Merry Christmas” any more. Its too controversial, its offensive, whatever the reason, It’s incredibly annoying.

Why is it that people are offended by “Merry Christmas”. When I was a kid this was never the case – stores could put up signs, schools could put up decorations, people could say “Merry Christmas” to one another, and today – nope, can’t say that, it’s too offensive.

Give me a break.

If a Jewish man approached me and said “Happy Hanukkah” or a Chinese woman said “Gung Hei Fat Choy”, or anyone from any religion or country wished me the best for their practiced holiday, I would be far from offended. Bring it on, bring on the cheer. I don’t have to celebrate a holiday that others enjoy and practice to appreciate the happiness it brings. I may be wrong, but I think most people would feel this way.

I would love to see the percentage of the Canadian or American population that is actually offended by someone saying Merry Christmas. I would bet it’s rather small, and frankly will never truly understand it. It doesn’t matter what anyone says or does, everything offends someone. I totally understand trying to put an end to racial slurs, or any comments that single out an individual or group in a negative light, but someone please, explain to me how saying “Merry Christmas” is negative or hurtful.

Once upon a time Christmas used to be a religious holiday, and sure it still is, but I know one heck of a lot of people who are not religious in any way that celebrate this time of year. It’s turned into a holiday that is not just about religion, but about family, and peace, and all that good stuff, and I don’t care who hears me say it, but:

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Would you be offended if someone wished you a "Happy Holiday" for a holiday you dont celebrate?

• Yes
• No

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First off let me say I do feel sympathy for the many people who have lost their homes to fire down in California. The same sympathy goes out to those who were flooded out during Katrina. But I have to say, I simply don’t understand these people.

The fires in California recur year after year, and yet people still rebuild, knowing the risk they are taking. Sure, it would be very sad to lose your home to fire, but I would think that’s the risk you take when you build in an area so susceptible to it.

When it comes to New Orleans, it’s a similar situation. The area is prone to hurricanes and flooding, and at least from what I have seen on the news, etc, everyone says that this will happen again – and again. Global warming is giving us stronger weather patterns that will make this kind of thing keep coming back. So why rebuild there? Why not relocate to a safer place less likely to be destroyed in the near future?

I get that it’s home and all that, and to be perfectly honest, I just may do the same thing, but just because I would do the same thing does not help me to understand. What is with us as a species.

All this brings back a memory I have from about 10 years ago. There was a huge wasp’s nest in our garden. Rather than use chemicals to kill them off, I stood my distance and blasted the hive to bits with the garden hose. A few days or so later, the hive was back, and once again I destroyed it. They rebuild yet a third time. Determined, I turned on the water and flooded them out once again. After that third time, they never came back – they moved on and found a new place to build. Perhaps we humans need to learn from the wasps.

(With all that in mind, I am guessing the wasps moved to someone else’s yard only to be “raided” out by someone less compassionate than myself. Oh well)