A Hoi, matey!
Those who see me, know I love food. Those who know me, know I love sushi. Last Monday, my wife attended a lunch date at a restaurant near her place of work and when she got home, she told me it was a sushi restaurant. It's called Hoi.
I hadn't known there was a sushi restaurant in that vicinity. My favourite sushi place is several miles from my home and relatively expensive (but worth every penny). This one is much closer to where I live. So, on Tuesday, I stopped in for lunch to give this new place a try.
I'd rate the portion size of the maki rolls at about 80% of what I'm used to. The quality is about the same. What really tips the balance for me is the price... it's all-you-can-eat, so for about half of what I pay at my favourite place, I can gorge myself.
On that first visit, I limited my consumption to sushi and a few of the appetizers. Miso soup, fried dumplings, a salad, two spring rolls, two cans of Diet Coke (no fountain drinks at this place, and even canned refills are free!) and 36 pieces of delicious sushi (6 Maki rolls) all for under $15.00 (with tax and tip, the bill came to $20.00).
The next day, I decided to try dinner. Pricing was $6.00 more than lunch. I ate pretty much the same things; in addition to some other items such as chicken skewers, beef skewers, and chicken fried rice. With tax and tip, I paid $27.50.
Thursday, I took my wife with me for dinner, where we both feasted for $55.00 total. I've been back twice since Thursday. Hopefully, my obsession with this place will run out before my money does!
Friday, April 08, 2011
More good news
Job Reclassification
My wife learned earlier this week that her attempt to have the job reclassified was successful. What this means is an immediate and significant bump in pay (retroactive to the date when the reclassification request was made). Not only will this improve our living situation, it will also have a very positive effect on her pensionable income, since her pension will be based on her highest five years of earnings.
New Clients
When I started this latest business venture, I didn't expect my clients to have a need for my services again if I did a good job. But, I hadn't factored in that satisfied clients come to you for other services, not just repairs, once you've earned their trust. So, I've gotten used to having a relatively small, but loyal, base of repeat clients.
That's why it's particularly gratifying when my advertising and word of mouth referrals result in new business. This week has been particularly good, with two brand new clients, and a repeat client from more than two years ago needing my assistance.
Job Reclassification
My wife learned earlier this week that her attempt to have the job reclassified was successful. What this means is an immediate and significant bump in pay (retroactive to the date when the reclassification request was made). Not only will this improve our living situation, it will also have a very positive effect on her pensionable income, since her pension will be based on her highest five years of earnings.
New Clients
When I started this latest business venture, I didn't expect my clients to have a need for my services again if I did a good job. But, I hadn't factored in that satisfied clients come to you for other services, not just repairs, once you've earned their trust. So, I've gotten used to having a relatively small, but loyal, base of repeat clients.
That's why it's particularly gratifying when my advertising and word of mouth referrals result in new business. This week has been particularly good, with two brand new clients, and a repeat client from more than two years ago needing my assistance.
Tuesday, April 05, 2011
Today in the news
Whether it's because of April Fool's day or not, the news lately has been nothing short of bizarre.
Gas Prices
There was an article in an online newspaper on April Fool's day that spoke about a 30-cent per litre increase in the price of gasoline. Thankfully, that turned out to be just a gag.
But four days later, it's certainly no joke that the price of gas has actually risen by 10-cents per litre. That works out to rise of 45.5 cents per imperial gallon, overnight!
Privacy Concerns
The Epsilon Corporation, responsible for much of the bulk email sent on behalf of large and respectable corporations, suffered a security breach this past weekend, resulting in the unauthorized release of client names and corresponding email addresses for many of the people in their vast data banks. Although they are quick to note that no passwords or other information was compromised, just having access to a valid list of matched names and addresses will give spammers the luxury of sending you PERSONALIZED spam or phishing emails... not just of the "Dear Customer" variety, but rather "Dear Jack"...
I have already received an apology from Best Buy - one of Epsilon's clients - advising me of this breach, and to be aware of any unauthorized emails I may receive that refer to me by name. The fallout from this breach will last for years, as those people whose email addresses will remain unchanged will continue to fall victim to phishing attempts for years to come.
Car Prices
The situation in Japan following the March 11th earthquake is starting to affect our local industry (automobiles) here in Canada. The price of fuel-efficient cars is rising across the board, partially in response to rising prices of Japanese cars (caused by the reduction in supply). That doesn't bode well for my plans to replace my older vehicle this summer.
Scams aimed at greedy currency collectors
Snake-oil salesmen are alive and well. There was a "story" that took up a full page in our local newspaper today. Consumer protection rules require that advertisements masquerading as news articles are identified appropriately; but if anyone missed the very small print disclaimer at the top of the page that identifies the "story" as an advertisement, it would seem that the US Treasury had released some rare, uncirculated $2.00 American bills for purchase by a lucky few Canadians who lived in very specific postal areas. In fact, as the story went, only people who lived in areas matching a pre-printed list of postal codes were eligible to make their purchase. From what I could see, every postal code in Canada was listed except for Manitoba and Nunavut, although there may have been one or two missing zones - I just couldn't tell. For only $58.00, you could own TWELVE, uncirculated $2.00 bills. These bills would be delivered as three sheets of four bills each. In more small print, the ad stated that the company "World Reserve Monetary Exchange" was not affiliated with the US Mint.
The image above shows the full page ad. The image below shows a portion of the ad. Note the very small print at the top, and the "very official looking" security detail, partially obscuring a crest that looks remarkably similar to "official" government crests.
Whether it's because of April Fool's day or not, the news lately has been nothing short of bizarre.
Gas Prices
There was an article in an online newspaper on April Fool's day that spoke about a 30-cent per litre increase in the price of gasoline. Thankfully, that turned out to be just a gag.
But four days later, it's certainly no joke that the price of gas has actually risen by 10-cents per litre. That works out to rise of 45.5 cents per imperial gallon, overnight!
Privacy Concerns
The Epsilon Corporation, responsible for much of the bulk email sent on behalf of large and respectable corporations, suffered a security breach this past weekend, resulting in the unauthorized release of client names and corresponding email addresses for many of the people in their vast data banks. Although they are quick to note that no passwords or other information was compromised, just having access to a valid list of matched names and addresses will give spammers the luxury of sending you PERSONALIZED spam or phishing emails... not just of the "Dear Customer" variety, but rather "Dear Jack"...
I have already received an apology from Best Buy - one of Epsilon's clients - advising me of this breach, and to be aware of any unauthorized emails I may receive that refer to me by name. The fallout from this breach will last for years, as those people whose email addresses will remain unchanged will continue to fall victim to phishing attempts for years to come.
Car Prices
The situation in Japan following the March 11th earthquake is starting to affect our local industry (automobiles) here in Canada. The price of fuel-efficient cars is rising across the board, partially in response to rising prices of Japanese cars (caused by the reduction in supply). That doesn't bode well for my plans to replace my older vehicle this summer.
Scams aimed at greedy currency collectors
Snake-oil salesmen are alive and well. There was a "story" that took up a full page in our local newspaper today. Consumer protection rules require that advertisements masquerading as news articles are identified appropriately; but if anyone missed the very small print disclaimer at the top of the page that identifies the "story" as an advertisement, it would seem that the US Treasury had released some rare, uncirculated $2.00 American bills for purchase by a lucky few Canadians who lived in very specific postal areas. In fact, as the story went, only people who lived in areas matching a pre-printed list of postal codes were eligible to make their purchase. From what I could see, every postal code in Canada was listed except for Manitoba and Nunavut, although there may have been one or two missing zones - I just couldn't tell. For only $58.00, you could own TWELVE, uncirculated $2.00 bills. These bills would be delivered as three sheets of four bills each. In more small print, the ad stated that the company "World Reserve Monetary Exchange" was not affiliated with the US Mint.
The image above shows the full page ad. The image below shows a portion of the ad. Note the very small print at the top, and the "very official looking" security detail, partially obscuring a crest that looks remarkably similar to "official" government crests.
