Outsmarted.

By who, you ask? By me, myself and I. As you know I went to Watertown NY to take take advantage of the high-flying loonie.

I planned to take my cell phone with me in case there was an emergency at home and I needed to be contacted. I called my cellular provider who will remain nameless but it rhymes with HELL. A pleasant young lady answered the phone and the conversation when something like this:

Me: "I'd like to add US roaming to my account for the weekend."
Her: "Of course sir, it'll only be $40."
Me: "What? $40 for a weekend?"
Her: "You have to keep it on your account for a month."

Once I found out the roaming charges were more reasonable than the last time I asked for my trip to Martinsville, VA in 2004 I decided to take my cell phone with me and risk it.

After I checked in at my motel, I went to the main shopping area and my first stop was K-Mart. Yeah I know but it was my mother's favourite store so at the very least I will stop in and look around. While I was in there, I saw the pay-as-you-go cell phones and one company (who will also remain nameless) was selling a phone for $15 including 10 minutes of airtime. When I got back to my motel, I got the package opened and charged the phone.

After talking to the K-Mart employee working in the department and reading the brochures it sounded like a good deal. Especially the parts about 800 numbers to call outside the US and being able to set up local numbers in Canadian cities for people to call me. So I'm thinking if I buy some more air time, my nieces can use the phone instead of calling collect from a phone at school which is 10 km away from home.

To make a long, internationally copyrighted story short. The phone doesn't work here, I either get a No Service or Emergency Only message, even when I go right by the lake to hope maybe a signal will bounce off the water. But I have had no such luck so the phone is a $35 paperweight. I was told the folks at Rogers may be able to sell me a new SIM card to use the phone but no such luck there either. Fortunately, K-Mart says I have 90 days to return the phone so there may be another provider out there that can help me.

Yeah, I suck.

I am way late with my updates

The weekend in Watertown was lots of fun, except for the spending too much money part. Got to explore some new stores and ended up out-smarting myself on one purchase. Finally discovered the New York State Zoo and got some cool pics which will be uploaded as soon as I find the USB cable to transfer the photos from my camera to the computer.

As for the weight thing... on October 3, after my return from Watertown after eating nothing but frozen prepared meals and restaurant food my weight increased by 0.8 pounds to bring the total back to 29 even. This past Wednesday, October 10 after being back home for 10 days my weight was down by 0.4 for the week and a total of 29.4 pounds. I need to get back to my routine of walking the dog everyday.

I know it is easy to want to stay indoors when it is wet and cold outside but the blubber won't go away on it's own. Wish me luck!

Stay tuned for the outsmarted story and the zoo pics.

Post #61

Can't believe I have had so much to babble about but I am back again for another visit. Since it is Wednesday I guess it is time for a weekly weight woundup. I was sure the number would be getting smaller since I had been so busy that I had no time to walk the dog and I bought a lot of junk food. To my surprise, the scale was actually good to me and showed that I had lost 5.8 pounds for the week and a total of 34.6 which puts me 4 pounds away from a 10% total weight loss. Funnily enough, I will be seeing the doctor tomorrow and see what he has to say.

In other news, I found a whole lot of neat junk at a local dollar store. And they are now letting people pay with their debit cards. And in the "you know your music career is over" category, when your autobiography is on the bottom shelf in a dollar store. I was looking for something to buy my nephew when I happened to glance down and saw The Harry Wayne Casey Story. 'Who the heck is that?' was my first thought. Then I bent down to pick the book up and saw the rest of the cover. The full title is 'That's the Way I Like It' and saw the KC and the Sunshine Band logo. Harry Wayne Casey is the KC of KC and the Sunshine Band. Apparently, according to the band's website they are still performing.

Speaking of performing my little home town is hosting the All Canadian Jazz Festival, saw the tents being set up in Memorial Park already for the weekend. So if you like jazz and are looking for something to do, come on down!

Such a sight has never been seen

Things that astound, amaze and confuse your lowly scribe. I have already confessed my love for Farmboy Markets in Peterborough. Sunday morning I headed there again since Friday was payday. So after finishing in there and buying a lovely 23 ounce t-bone I decided to swing by the nearby Dollarama store to see what they have. I pulled in front of the store a couple minutes before 11 am and there were actually people waiting outside for the store to open! There must have been around 15 people who all headed for the door when it was unlocked. I have heard of people lining up for the latest video game console or waiting for concert tickets. But waiting for a dollar store to open?? Well, I guess you learn something new everyday.

I love Farmboy Markets

Is it possible to love a grocery store? Heck yeah if you are someone who loves to eat, and I think I qualify based on all my posts about trying to lose weight. Why do I love them so much? It's mainly because of the meat. For those who have been around for a few years may recognize that as the slogan for Dominion Stores, which still exist in the greater Toronto area but were bought out by A&P which was then purchased by Metro stores.

Farmboy isn't a mega superstore with 200,000 square feet of everything you can put in your mouth like marinated Mongolian yak-kebabs. It is a throwback to the neighbourhood grocery stores from years gone by. Not elaborate but a little of everything you need. And as I mentioned, an amazing meat counter. Not amazing by the selection but amazing by the prices. I bought a 22 ounce t-bone steak last Friday and paid $9.37 for it, that works out to $6.99/pound. Yeah Canada measures everything in metric so $15.38/kg and it was at least 1/2" thick! Add some mesquite seasoning and a BBQ and I was a happy camper except for the rained out NASCAR race on Sunday and today.

If you are within a short drive of Peterborough, check them out. Unlike the megamarts, they are not open 24 hours a day and they don't have a website for me to show you. All I can tell you is they are located at the corner of Lansdowne and Erskine in Peterborough across from the Minute Maid plant. Sometimes they'll snag a deal on something you won't see everyday like paper products made for Wegmans and Tops grocery stores in upstate NY. Now, if you'll excuse me there are some pork chops I bought there that need my attention.

WWW - part eleventy-teen +4... and other stuff

First, for the weightloss update, up by 1 pound for the week. I am not a happy camper since I have basically not changed since my last doctors appointment almost 6 weeks ago. So my total is now 24.2 pounds lost and now someone has mentioned seeing some gray in my hair. Just more proof everyone gets older.

On to thing number 2. I did get the iPod, I mean MP3 player this week. It is the Creative Labs Zen Stone. It holds 1 GB of music or about 250 songs and plays them in order or you can shuffle them. I got the blue one, in case you were wondering and still have room for lots more music. If you are interested, Popular Mechanics calls this device "an iPod killer". I'll take any suggestions as long as it is not rap, hip-hop or death metal. To help narrow it down, I really like music from the 50's to 80's plus country, classical, contemporary christian and comedy.

And thing number 3. I think I have mentioned how much I love my Sirius satellite radio. Well, the receiver I have isn't being made anymore and the equipment that lets you use it in the car is falling apart since I can't permanently attach it inside my work vehicles. And it seems no one in Canada sells the replacement parts. At least at the stores I have visited recently. The closest I came was at Future Shop who had 2 compete Sportster Replay kits. Problem there is that they were asking $150 and I have no need for 2 receivers and remotes.

However, if I bother to make another trip across the border to the town of Gouverneur, NY, I can buy the same exact same equipment for $60 plus taxes at the Radio Shack dealer store. Another solution is to just buy a new antenna which sells for $50 at the local The Source by Circuit City (nee Radio Shack) or go to the local Wal-Mart and buy a basic receiver and car kit (including the receiver) for $70. Or again across the border, the exact same receiver is $40. Or the Sirius One which is now selling for $19.97 at Radio Shack and not available at all in Canada (at least to my knowledge). And one more example before the steam leaks out of my ears. Noticed at Future Shop a bunch of air conditioners for sale. The exact same model was seen at K-Mart during my last trip across the border. $150 here, $100 there.

Hope you have a great week and if there is a weather expert lurking, can you please do something about this heat?