Burnin' ring of FIRE !!

... and it burns, burns, burns.

Flaming loo makes customers cautious

Tokyo - Twenty-six smoking toilets, and three more on fire, put a Japanese toilet maker in the hot seat on Monday.

Toto, known for its high-tech toilets with bidets that have blow-drying, air purification and seat-warming functions, apologised to consumers and offered free checks and repairs after some of its toilets with bidets and heated seats sent up smoke and three caught fire.

"Fortunately, nobody was using the toilets when the fire broke out, and there were no injuries," Tanaka said.

"The fire would have been just under your buttocks.''

Hehe..Ummm ... that's pretty close to home, brother !

I had to know... just what does this useless peice of technology look like ?? From Toiletology.com ... yep, you read that right .. seems there is website for everything.

A scam uncovered ....

A well-intentioned individual sent me the following email yesterday: (forwarded down a chain a mile long)

From Chatham Ontario

Hi, my name is Amy Bruce. I am 7 years old, and I have a large tumor on my brain and severe lung cancer. The doctors say I will die soon if this isn't fixed, and my family can't pay the bills. "The Make A Wish Foundation" has agreed To donate 7 cents for every time this message is sent on. For those of you who send this along, I thank you so much. But for those who don't send it,I will still pray for you.Please, if you are a kind person, have a heart. Please,please, PLEASE HIT THE FORWARD BUTTON.

Amy Bruce

Now, a few things set off the ol' radar about this ... First .. I don't think I've ever heard of a kid having lung cancer. Second .... I've never heard of "mild" lung cancer... Third .. Medical coverage in Canada, however dismal, is free. Forth .. I don't think "Make-a-Wish" would stray too far from their original excellent work, and it certainly wouldn't be by e-mail.

A quick Google search confirmed my suspicion .....

Each day, the Make-A-Wish Foundation and its chapters receive hundreds of inquiries about chain letters claiming to be associated with the Foundation and featuring sick children. However, we do not participate in these kinds of wishes. Some names associated with these wishes are:
Amy Bruce, Jeff DeLeon, Rhyan Desquetado, LaNisha Jackson, Nikisha Johnson, Jessie Anderson, Kayla Wightman, Craig Shergold, Craig Sheldon, Craig Sheppard, Craig Shelton, Craig Shelford, Anthony Hebrank, Chad Briody and Bryan Warner.

My suspicion is this is a sick way of gathering valid email addresses .... all those on the chain can be expecting LOTS of viagra spam .... Crank up the filters !!!

The moral of the story is..... THINK about what you are sending to your "friends".

Thanks, Buddy....

UPDATE-- I've had a couple of hits from both ends of the country with the referring page being a google search on "Amy Bruce Chatham" .... If you find yourself here this way... congratulations for actually thinking this through !!

Wireless internet security

When we finally got DSL last month, it only made sense for us to get a wireless router to use with our laptops. Since I use a computer for my employment on a regular basis, often in the strangest of places, I can see that many others do the same.

I guess a lot of people also don't read the operating instructions that come with these routers... You wouldn't believe how many people simply plug it in .. hook up the LAN cables and viola ... it works.

Small problem with this.... if you're like me you might have a small problem with Diddlin' Dan downloading his filth on your dime. Not to mention the legal repercussions. I'm surprised you don't hear of that happening. And while I would never do it ... opening your pipe means opening your computer ... someone so inclined can look at anything on that network.

Some examples ... Park in front of Giant Tiger... there is one there (and it's not Comfort Inn's, you can use theirs too). 4 or 5 at the Railway Station. Somebody named Rose has one in front of Subway. All of them ... free to use their pipe, whenever you like.

There are a few things you can do to prevent this from happening:

1. RTFM ... A cry often heard in my line of work ...Read The Fu*$in' Manual

2. Put a unique non-identifying name on your LAN... and put a password on it.

3. Stop broadcasting the presence of your LAN ... there is no need to do so. And it would stop this from happening.

4. Reduce the power of your transmitter ... The range of these devices is often far more than the average Joe requires.... We live in the country, so there is about 100 m between us & my neighbor. Upstairs my computer receives his LAN at full strength .. through two walls and 100 m of free space loss.


Oh, BTW... it's a good thing for my neighbor I'm an honest fella ... I didn't need to pay for high speed ... I coulda just used his.

Manufacturing woes across Ontario

From the Niagara Falls Review

Loss of manufacturing jobs should be an election issue

"I think it's one of the most significant problems, if not the most significant problem facing rural and small-town, small-city Ontario today," said Bob Runciman, the Conservative MPP for Leeds-Grenville. "I look at it from the perspective of where are the good jobs going to be in the future," Runciman said.


"You travel across Eastern Ontario, and I suppose it applies to most of Ontario, if you look at the polls, this doesn't seem to be a real blip on the polls," Runciman said.

"People aren't really grasping the gravity of the situation yet I don't think and what it means for the future," he said.

I don't think there is a single person in Eastern or Northern Ontario that doesn't get it Bob .... as usual it's the 416 & 905 crowd who are in the dark.

"I think it's an extremely serious issue and one the current government doesn't seem to have any plan to deal with or any willingness to deal with."

Somebody please tell me what issue the current government is dealing with ... besides adding to our tax bills ...

Take a look 4 years in ...

Better health care .... NOPE

Native lawlessness ... NOPE

Better, affordable education ... NOPE

Can somebody PLEASE tell me just what it is they have been doing in QP ??

Here is the Liberal angle ...

Sandra Pupatello, the minister of economic development and trade, said the government has invested substantially both to save manufacturing jobs across Ontario (????) and help build infrastructure to help communities retain jobs.

"In the Smiths Falls example, they know what they need in terms of infrastructure in their community and one big item was actually in the budget and that was the launch of their hospital," Pupatello said.

Jobs, ma'am, that's what we need .... don't forget the Ontario government is taking twice the jobs out of Smiths Falls Hershey is .... and refuses to re-consider or find an alternative use for Rideau Regional Center.

Oh ... here is something the Lib's have done ... made sure prosperity continues in the beloved 905/416 area codes.

".....however the bulk of government cash has gone to help urban manufacturing such as the auto sector. "

Let's not forget in October who pledges to help us:

John Tory, has called for the decentralization of government services, to move civil service jobs out of Toronto and into smaller communities, as a partial solution to the economic destabilization taking place in Ontario's smaller communities and for innovative measures to target rural and regional job loss.

A bon voyage ... we hope.

A little lighter today ...

Our travel plans for this year are coming together ... normally we take a little break from the snow and cold here and travel to Florida in early February.

We didn't go this year as my brother has decided to "do the right thing" and get hitched in October in Cozumel Mexico... on a cruise. The cash register starts ringin' .... oh ..there's more.

Since my wife refuses to step aboard a plane after seeing that second plane, as it happened, fly into the WTC, we have to drive. A week away does not justify driving nearly 6000 kms, soooo it's gotta be two weeks....Hey..we're going to be down there for Halloween .. why not do it at Disney for Mickey's Not-so-scary Party?? Cha-ching.....

So the plan is to drive down, take the 7-day cruise and then return to Kissimmee for a week. Courtesy of the magic of the internet we have just rented a beautiful 5 bedroom house in a great neighborhood close to the parks that is owned by a nice young family in Ireland.... we have done this before and it is an excellent, affordable way to stay. If you have two families together it's way cheaper than hotel rooms. You don't have to eat restaurant food all the time.... with the expense that comes with it. No sharing a pool with 200 people.

Sound like fun ?

Bob Runciman weighs in ..

And he's not giving up, yet.

While Runciman said he wanted to avoid a "partisan spat" with the Liberals, he suggested the government has given up too easily now that Hershey has pulled the plug on any thought of saving the plant.

"That to me is waving the white towel and this is too important to wave the white towel," he said.

Now, Runciman's no fool .... he knows Hershey is gone ... the question is... can anything else be done ?

Well, ya.

...there are local examples of employees rallying to build a new company from the ashes of a plant closure announcement.

"I've seen it work in Brockville and I know it's worked in other parts of the province as well.

It's something that we have to explore."

He pointed to the group of managers and manufacturing staff who rallied after Black and Decker in Brockville announced its decision to cease manufacturing in 1998. The employees formed a new company, Camalor, and successfully bid on a Black and Decker product line.

As for keeping the chocolate shop open with no factory ...I've always thought that was dumb... Who the hell wants to buy Mexican Hershey bars.. after they've picked up and left Town ?? It's not going to have a tourist draw.... Now, a factory that could rise up from this, and become a true Canadian success ... I think you could draw just as many... It's the opportunity to see chocolate being produced that is the novelty, I don't think it will much matter what label is there.

One bit of advice to any new business that might be formed from this ...

Leave the CAW membership cards at the door.... will ya ??

Buy local....

... and here is a great idea to identify local products.

The new Proudly Northumberland label is what people should be looking for, whether it's on food, industrial products or other services, two different audiences were told at the unveiling of the new branding symbol yesterday.

Food identified as grown within the riding of Northumberland-Quinte West tells consumers it meets rigorous safety standards....

The branding symbol sports the county's blue and green colours in two slim curved lines beneath a stylized leaf emerging from a seed. The green seed icon is for life, growth and environmental sustainability, as well as innovation, Mr. Borovilos said

.....but getting onto store shelves will be the "big hurdle," he acknowledged

I do try to do this already ... I shop alot at Garden Market, which does support local farmers .... Our cheese comes from St.Albert or Belleville's Black Diamond... Steaks and pies from that farm stand at the intersection of Rideau Ferry & Port Elmsley Road.

It looks like there is some provincial $$ available ....

The provincial government has committed $12.5-million to boost rural development, and Mr. Rinaldi's agriculture advisory committee came up with the home-grown food branding initiative as a priority for this riding, he said. Buy Northumberland-Quinte West first, Ontario next, and then Canadian, Mr. Rinaldi urged

Maybe Scott Reid or whomever gets in Provincially could start something similar for the LFLA riding ??

Oh ya ... and I did buy Hershey chocolate bars. Not anymore.

Ah, the internet.

The Good

The Bad

The Ugly

Smokes in a baggie..

... you just never know what's in them.

From Halls of Macadamia:

Cheap native-made cigarettes can contain dirt, metal filings and other unsavoury ingredients mixed in with the chemical stew of 4,200 chemicals found in all smokes, according to an analysis done by the federal Ministry of Revenue...

....adding the cheap smokes are often made with tobacco swept from the floor of cigarette manufacturing plants and sold illegally at clandestine auctions.



I'm really concerned where all this money is going ... From today's Recorder and Times:

More charges have been laid as part of an investigation into the contraband cigarette trade here.

The charges stem from a raid on a William Street East residence on March 29 that netted police 26 cases of illegal smokes worth $28,600 as well as $3,000 cash in small bills.

My ever expanding vocabulary

I actually got to use the term "nappy-headed ho" in the correct context today, less than 24 hours after I learned what it meant.

COOL.