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When Moving Sinks In

posted at 11:05 am
on Oct. 4, 2004

Comments: 2 so far

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There are big signs that you’ve moved, and small signs.  One small sign today, one that really drives the reality of the new city home, is that we’re removing and resetting all the radio presets in our car.

So far, we have:
92.9
99.3
and 101.something

One radio station, a classic rock station, took an advertising break from their “Psychadelic Sunday” to play an ad for, I swear this is true, better marijuana fertilizer.  Bigger leaves, faster growth.  Good to know.

We’re not in La La Land anymore.

Today, the movers came.  We had to drive out to a bonded warehouse where our stuff was held for customs to peruse.  They didn’t, but they could have.  I think it was made a lot easier by the fact that I am a “Canadian returning home.”  The American after me, who was up here on a work visa, was given a harder time by a meaner lady.

The movers had fun putting everything in the elevator and hauling it up 26 floors.  My fun task was to stand in the street and make sure that nobody walking by made off witha suitcase or lamp or table leg.

It was warm enough that I was wearing jeans a a T-shirt, and cold enough that I was glad the T-shirt was black.  Standing in the building’s shadow, I found some small shafts of sun to stand or sit in.  When it got too chilly even for that, at around 1 p.m., I folded the furniture blankets into a large pile—they must have used at least 50 of them to wrap all our stuff.

But when the movers came back down, they told me not to waste my time.  It seems the truck driver, Sterling, has a “system” for folding blankets for which he is famous.  They said it wa a nice effort, but they had learned not to bother because Sterling will just refold them all.

When Sterling brought the truck back, I asked him if it was true that he had a reputation for blanket folding, because I’d fold them up for him if he showed me how.  He thanked me, but declined.

“I wouldn’t let my wife fold those blankets,” Sterling said.

Overheard

“Oh boy! Another great opportunity for personal growth!”

...who said it?

“I’m not bitter about what happened to me as a child, and my mother was instrumental in keeping me from being so. ... She taught me to be grateful for my life regardless of what that entailed, and that’s directly related to the image of Christ on the cross and the example of sacrifice that he gave us. What she taught me is that the deliverance God offers you from pain is not no pain—it’s that the pain is actually a gift. What’s the option? God doesn’t really give you another choice.”

...who said it?

After over a decade of user testing, it is clear that the way we search the web is similar to the way we would search our home for valuables as it was burning to the ground. Frantically.

...who said it?

“We must shift the focus of companies back to the customer and away from shareholder value ... The shift necessitates a fundamental change in our prevailing theory of the firm… The current theory holds that the singular goal of the corporation should be shareholder value maximization. Instead, companies should place customers at the center of the firm and focus on delighting them, while earning an acceptable return for shareholders.”

...who said it?

“We would accomplish many more things if we did not think of them as impossible.”

...who said it?

Comments

 

 

 

 

 

Because I'm a nerd when it comes to TV/radio call letters, one of the main things I remember about my 1995 visit to Vancouver is the radio station 95.3 CKZZ -- mainly because, when they recited the call letters, they said, "C-K-ZED-ZED." I thought that was so cool -- it's not Z, it's "Zed." Is that a Canadian thing?

 

Posted by Mike
  at 5:58 pm on Oct. 7, 2004

 

 

 

Yes, "Zed" is a Canadian thing. My first car was a Datsun 260Z(ed). It was a fabulous car, sleak and quick. It did stall in intersections whenever I wanted to turn left, but I could forgive that, because it was red.

 

Posted by Travis Smith
  at 10:51 pm on Oct. 7, 2004

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