(no subject)

I noticed that one of the little rubber ear bud thingies came off my wireless headset the other day and i can't find it. I carry it in my big tote bag and i figured it just came off in there but i emptied that out and it's gone. The metal of the raw ear thingy is a bit annoying so i went to The Source to see if they had any replacement ones. Nope. The only ones they carry are for other types of earphones and have a bit of rubber up the middle making it impossible to stick on to the style i have. I even tried turning it inside out so it makes a funnel shape into my ear but it doesn't fit tightly. I'd have to glue it on. Next step...eBay and Lo and Behold... there were replacement bits for the exact model of headset! Yay! I bought three pairs at 3.99 each so at least the 7.95 delivery charge was less than the total bill! I can't really complain. It does cost more and more to mail even small packages these days! For 20 dollars total in Canadian funds, i'll get three sets so i'll have spares if i lose any more. EBay is great for things like that, replacement parts and batteries for various things.

I got the post office card for what is very likely my new passport. I wish i could find the old one only for my peace of mind. I can't believe i would have accidentally thrown it out so it has to be in this apartment somewhere. St. Anthony, patron Saint of lost things might be an avenue! While i'm convinced there are Travel Gods and Luggage Gods, I'm not really sure if there are Lost Things Gods.

Toronto looms in the offing, I'll be flying up there to meet gramie_dee in 18 sleeps. A Corrie ping with local friends and a day trip to Niagara Falls and we'll probably be hooking up with an internet friend of his as well if schedules can be coordinated. Next spring when i come over to the UK it looks like we're going to spend some time in Cornwall. Any suggestions for hotels, things to do or things to avoid entirely welcome!

You can bank on this

I meant to write about this earlier...I was in a cab on the way home with a few groceries today and we drove past a little bank, a small branch of CIBC. An aside...Have you noticed that all the banks, nearly, all prefer to go by their initials these days? At least here in Canada they do. It used to be Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. The Royal Bank of Canada is now usually just called RBC. Toronto Dominion is TD. The Bank of Nova Scotia, one of Canada's first chartered banks, is Scotiabank, the longest name of them all and the Bank of Montreal? No, not BM ... That's a bit tacky (it's what we used to use to refer to a bowel movement!) They call themselves BMO, pronouncing it BeeMo often.

Anyway
CIBC... this branch is in a little shopping centre and has been there since i was a kid. My parents used to bank there, so did i at one time. We've all moved on since they mishandled some things. No details needed. Anyway they're closing that branch with most of the staff and accounts moving to a new branch in the Dartmouth Crossing retail "park". That's a couple of miles away from the old location and very awkward to get to by bus. There's absolutely no residential area there either. The only other closest location is the downtown Dartmouth branch and if i were still a customer, i'd probably shift my accounts there.

Yes, i'm getting to a point. I mentioned the closing of the bank and the cab driver went off on a semi-rant about the north end of the city being gouged and treated unfairly yet again. The North end of Dartmouth contains mainly low income neighbourhoods and high density areas with a lot of apartment buildings or old small houses. The same thing happens in the poorer areas of Halifax. Banks and grocery stores slowly close out until people have to go further for their day to day needs.

But i got thinking about banking. In this day and age, how often do you really go into a bank to the counter? I never do more than a couple of times a year. If i want to buy some foreign currency or if i have rolled up coins to change over to real money or put into an account. That's pretty much it. All my other banking is done either at an ATM or online. And you can do your banking at any branch anyway with an ATM card to present to the teller. It's all the same computer system. What difference does it make which branch is your "home" bank anyway, these days?

With all that in mind....Yay! a poll!

[Poll #1618819]