A flogging good time

My attempts to settle up on revamping the Rogers phone plan were delayed this week. I'm still looking into upgrading my mobile device to get a decent video camera and mobile internet, but I think I've given up on being able to bundle that with a phone. You can get a top of the line machine with all the bells and whistles for about $550 without an expensive plan, a $300-400 phone which lists the same basic features, but may have lower quality or some quality hangups, or for under $250 I can get an Ipod touch; a top of the line device which lacks radio and a phone. I think it makes more sense to keep my current phone and get the Ipod touch, with which I can substitute Skype for phone use more. Yet... my current music device does work, and it does bother me a little that I would still be leaving unaccounted for certain features that I'd like in the same unit. Maybe I'll put off anything for a bit longer. See if there's an upcoming sale.

While investigating devices I remembered that RBC has an incentive program where various deals are offered through other retailers. Up to 10% off the list price at Apple stores for example. Rogers does have a deal with RBC, but unfortunately when I tried to call the representative, he wasn't there. I guess Rogers sales agents are off by 4pm or something.

Seriously. Where you at Dawg? The whole city's behind you!

I have been examining the possibilities of reducing the Rogers bill; possibly through reducing the channels I have. (Though there's so much bad television you need a lot of chanels or lower standards) I think the most immediate concern is changing the phone plans. The offer indicated as being exclusive to RBC employees looks like a good bet for reducing the bill, but I'm also examining the pay as you go plans.

Its clear to me that my own phone should be on a Pay-Go plan as they reduce the fixed monthly costs a great deal, and I 've even generated some spreadsheets to examine the plan performance using my own data from the last nine months. Unfortunately, I'm not sure how much voice mail time is used in a month as they don't indicate it on the bill, so I've had to make some estimates there. This the data I've been looking over. It may also be the case that its a better deal for Dad's phone. It may be a close thing though when compared to the RBC discount plan.


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Its a nice day, but I feel bad because I was out so much yesterday, and I've got stuff to do around here. Washing the futon cover seems impossible as while there are zippers, it does not seem to be like my duvet where it removable with the stuffing being damaged or just coming apart. I'm going to vacuum the surface as it seems really dusty.

I wonder why I don't like Macaroni and Cheese unless it comes out of a box with powered cheese. Maybe I'll try to make a genuine version later this week. I wish cheese weren't so damn expensive.


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Two movies were on television today and neither was very good. Jurassic Park III and one of those hand animated Disney movies from a decade ago when the well ran dry: Road to Eldorado.

The latter contains some really annoying and crummy characters and singing, and I didn't even want to watch all of it. The best part came early on; Tulio and Miguel have been caught as trespassers on the ship of the famous Spanish explorer Cortez and are brought before him:

"My crew was chosen with as much care as the disciples of Christ. I will not tolerate stowaways. You will be flogged and when we put into Cuba ...God willing, you will be flogged some more."

Shoulda ended the movie with that.


I have memories of Jurassic Park III being better than the annoying The Lost World due to the lack of the anti-zoo BS and mini Godzilla nonsense. So I was a little surprised watching it today how stupid much of it is. When a hang gliding adventure over a dangerous island goes predictably wrong, two estranged parents decide to hire three, count 'em three mercenaries and fool Dr. Grant, (With money they don't have) to illegally go to the island to rescue their son. When it turns out that three mercenaries with automatic rifles can neither set up a perimeter nor fight a giant lizard.

Fuh fuh fuh!

I suppose its possible their plan wasn't to wander into the jungle and start shooting at the first large predator they saw with weapons that were insufficient to kill it, it may indeed be that the only way this family could fool mercenaries to work for them was if they were really stupid mercenaries. Expendables if you will. Or it may be that their plans for a safe perimeter were ruined by Tea Leoni shouting into the jungle with a megaphone from the landing strip. Lady ...you're on an island filled with Dinosaurs, not in a hedge maze. Why the stupid plan instead of trying to just get the media and government to find your missing kid? No movie then I suppose.