Common Sense Out the Window

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Author: Alexander T.
Date: Oct 31st., 2013
Country of Residence: Canada

Check out my other blogs at punchmeout.ca!



A woman in the United States recently launched a lawsuit against McDonald’s for spilling a cup of hot coffee on herself. She claims that the lid was not attached properly by the cashier. Visit http://ca.finance.yahoo.com/video/hot-coffee-suit-against-mcdonalds-211631388.html.

The coffee spilled on her lap, and she had to visit the  emergency unit at the hospital. The doctors said she had second degree burns, and she would need to go to the burn unit.



She claims that the people at McDonald’s didn’t care. They got someone to drive her car around to the front, and didn’t help her in any other way.

Don’t automatically expect people to help you. Everyone has a responsibility to themselves first. It doesn’t matter what age you are, you cannot automatically expect someone to take care of you when something bad happens.

Every step you take is potentially life threatening or could send you to the emergency.

Look before crossing the street. Estimate the distance between you and an oncoming vehicle. If a driver stops, look directly at the driver. Most drivers will make a movement to signal that it is safe to cross.



You take a risk every time you cross the street. There’s not always a crossing guard watching you every step of the way.

Be careful when you walk around. You could hit something with your arm, or stub your toe. If you stub your toe, it’s your own fault.

You are directly responsible for any harm you do to yourself. The person who put something in your way is not directly at fault. He or she has some responsibility to make sure that they don’t put others in harms way, but you are directly responsible for yourself.

If you are lifting a heavy object you are responsible to do it safely. There are many risks we encounter in everyday life.

First and foremost you have a responsibility to yourself. You also bear some responsibility, to make sure that others are safe.

The woman in at the McDonald’s restaurant should've realized that the coffee was hot, and that she should be careful when handling it. The lid may of been loose, but it was not the restaurants fault for the lid coming of, and the coffee spilling on her lap.

McDonald’s does bear responsibility to assist her in getting to the hospital, and doing what they can to help. Its common decency to assist someone in trouble, no matter what is going on.

Even though nobody helped her very much in the restaurant, she should not get very much from the restaurant. The cups are clearly labelled, “Caution. May be Hot.”

McDonald’s should only have to pay for her medical expenses, and be obligated to offer assistance to customers who injure themselves on their premises.

The bottom line is that you need to use your common sense whenever you do something, like reach up for a cup of hot coffee, or reaching up to grab on to something that is cold.

The bottom line is that you are responsible for yourself first. No one is watching out for your except for you.

Are Guns the Answer to Personal Safety

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Author: Alexander T. Date: Sept 16th., 2013 Country of Residence: Canada

No, guns are not the answer. Gun violence is glorified by the media. Guns should never be the first choice, when resolving physical violence between two people.

A perfect example of this is in the movie I recently watched called, Groupie. In the end the killer, a woman, attempts to kill the rock star, with a knife. His wife is tied with duck tape, to a chair, and manages to free herself.

When she frees herself, instead of attempting to get the knife off the other woman, she runs upstairs, retrieves a gun, and kills the other woman. This scene makes it easy to pick up a gun and defend yourself, or those you love.

This may be the easiest, and safest way to resolve a situation where one person attacks another using a knife, but there are consequences.

Although you are killing in self defense, often you are always guilty until proven innocent, despite what the laws, or policies of a company say. According to the website 1 United Nations Cyber School Bus,

"You should be considered innocent until it can be proved that you are guilty. If you are accused of a crime, you should always have the right to defend yourself. Nobody has the right to condemn you and punish you for something you have not done."



Everyone does and should have the right to defend themselves and their love once's, but guns are not the answer to defending yourself from an attacker. The person that attacked you is in the wrong, but if you shoot and kill the person that attacked you, you could be held accountable, and tried for murder.

It depends what country you live, but it all boils down to the people in power, the law makers, and the policy makers in large corporations. They have to justify themselves and the jobs they do.

Your not important, like the customer is not important, in large corporations. To them your just a means to an ends. You are a number, and nothing more. It is the way society everywhere, evolved, and won't change unless the people all over the world fight, and make changes to the way that government and corporations are run.



When I took accounting courses in college, the instructor would include a small lesson in ethics. After the demise of companies like Nortel, ethics began to play a more prominent roll in education.

Ethics is about being fair and just to your fellow human beings. Unfortunately, many people in positions of power ignore ethics. They put on a show for the public, and it doesn't matter what they do. They are in business to fluff up their feathers and make themselves look good. There not in it for the benefit of themselves, and to help others. They take the attitude, "Its just business." Don't feel bad, its nothing personal.

Its like when you were a kid, someone would make it to the top of a snow pile and shout, "I'm the king of the castle and your the dirty rascal!".

Guns play a large part in American society. They represent freedom to do whatever you want, and the power to control your own destiny. According to the United States constitution, all American's are allowed to carry guns. Almost all 44 states incorporate a clause that states, "Every person has a right to keep and bear arms for the defense of himself and the state." 2

The second amendment, adopted in December 15, 1791, along with the rest of the United States Bill of Rights, allowed citizens of the United States to bear arms in English Common Law, which was influenced by the English Bill of Rights of 1689. It was defined by Sir William Blackstone, as a right supporting the right of natural self defense, to resist the excess of authority in the abuse of power 3, and the civic duty to act in defense of the state or country.

Everyone has the right to defend themselves and their families; however, everyone should not have the right to bear harms. When it comes to the defense of your country, it should be your choice. You should never be forced into military service to support your country, as part of your civic duty. No-one should be forced to do anything they don't want to.

There are some people who incapable of making rational life and death decisions, and never should be allowed to carry a gun. It is impossible to judge what a person will do, when confronted with a situation involving life and death. Many people have psychological conditions, if there conditions are not controlled, it places everyone is at risk; therefore, not everyone should have the right to bear arms. The only people that should be allowed to bear harms, are authorities, and special licenses should be granted to hunters.

Fortunately, I don't have to worry about gun violence. Generally, most Canadians feel the same. In Canada we are allowed to own rifles but it has to be licensed and you have to have a hunting license to go hunting with it, hand guns are more strictly controlled, you have to have a special permit, be registered, and be part of a gun club, and your only allowed to carry the hand gun between your home and the club.

If your an American, think twice before buying a gun for personal protection. Take a moment to think about all the children that died at schools, at the hands of a mad men.

Guns are too easy. It is too easy to solve problems using a gun as a solution. Guns should never be the first consideration when resolving difficult social situations.

Notes and Citations:

i. United Nations Cyber School Bus

ii. United Nations Cyber School Bus

iii. Wikipedia

Providing Awesome Customer Service

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Customers are the lifeblood of a business. Without customers a business doesn't exist. Weather it is your in business or your working for one, the customer is what drives your business, and generates the revenue. The way to generate customers, is to keep them coming back with awesome customer service.

Customer service is the act of making the customers you serve happy. There are many ways to serve the customer. Weather it is getting information, making something right, helping them with their billing or selling them a product or service they need, it is all about customer service.





It is easier to provide excellent customer service if you own the business; however, if you don't, the thing that should matter to you is the ongoing concern of the business your in. Your job is safe if you keep the business you are in safe.

If the business your in goes out of business, your part of the equation, especially in a small city, where jobs are scarce, and you need to take what you get.

Customer service is the key. A long time ago I saw a perfect example of customer service. 

Every day on my way to the office, I would walk past a coffee shop. There was a line up all the way into the mall. I couldn't believe it. The cashier was always friendly, and always greeted the customers with a smile. There was another coffee shop in the mall, but the line ups weren't as long.





Being in the customer service business for about a decade, and selling to people myself, I learned allot. The most important thing is to try and stay calm, and learn from the problems you encounter. 

Customers can be unpredictable, and they may overreact to the way you tell them something. When working with customers, be-careful what you tell them. Make sure that your facts are correct, and your providing accurate information. 

Most of my experience was on the telephone, in a call centre environment. It is different when your working with customers face to face. 

When your face to face, it is as if your meeting with someone for the first time. You need to be confident and sure of yourself, and be able to answer any question that is asked of you. You can't look things up, you must come up with answers on the fly. 

Here are some tips to providing excellent customer service, be knowledgeable about the product or service you are selling, and act professional. You need to show that your in control and know the business your in.

If you don't know something, and your face to face, tell the customer you'll find out, find the answer and come back. Know the product, and be confident when your trying to articulate your words. It is difficult to say the right things, but saying the right thing can be the difference between making the sale and losing the sale. 

When providing customer service over the phone, keep notes, and be prepared to answer any question. The most difficult part of taking phone calls is the first two weeks. Your tense, you don't know what to expect yet, but as you take more calls you become more experienced.

When providing customer service face to face, try to relax, don't think about the line up and work through your problems. Its just you and the customer. Learn to handle anything that comes up yourself. You're not always able to call on someone with a push of a button for assistance. 

Weather your providing customer service on the phone or face to face, similar situations will happen, and you need to deal with it, and remember what you did.

Customers represent revenue, and you are the middle man or woman, to making or breaking the business your serving. Customer service is the key to a successful business, but you are the reason customers come back.

Where's my morning paper? The Disappearing Print Media

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Paper is slowly disappearing. Newspapers and magazines will slowly disappear and no longer be the primary form of media distribution. Fido (the dog) will need to look for other work.

The internet will become the new newspaper. Instead of picking up your newspaper from the step or walkway to your front door, you will open your computer and log on, or open your cell phone and hit your favorite news app.

Some newspapers have already stopped distributing paper to certain areas. Since the internet is common place now, newspapers and magazines are making the move to online distribution to reduce costs of distribution such as shipping, and printing costs associated with traditional print distribution.

Unfortunately, this will leave many people out in the cold. The elderly and some disabled people will no longer be able to get access to their local news. Television will be their only option. Unbelievably their are still some people don't have access to the internet, and don't even have a computer in their houses. As of 2012 about a fifth of Canadian households did not have access to the internet, 46 percent with incomes of 30 000 or less had no internet access according to an article on the cbc, entitled, No Internet in 1/5 Canadian homes.



The main reason was a general lack of interest or need to have the internet. I think that is unacceptable. It is important that everyone is able to access the internet. More and more information is only accessible via the internet. There are numerous times that the internet can save you time and money.

If you can't afford it, you should at least educated yourself about the internet, and use it at internet cafes and the library, whenever you can. The internet is like food for the mind. People without access, are limiting their opportunities, and access to information.

Its unfortunate that the internet is replacing the newspaper and some other type of media. There is something to be said about the way the newspaper smells, the sound it makes when you turn the pages, and the black smudges it makes on your fingers. I will never be comfortable accessing the paper online, the paper format makes it easier to read, and it makes it easier to track certain articles you are interested in.

If that is what the newspaper is turning into, then I just hope that books aren't the next to go. I would rather pay more for a book then to be forced to access it only.

Baking Easier Then You Think

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Check out my blogs at punchmeout.ca.. Who has the time to bake? Everyone. Its easier then you'd think, and will save you money. After you bake your first loaf of bread or turn out that first patch of muffins, you will think twice before buying anything from the grocery store.

Recently I made fajitas, and thought twice when I was at the grocery store. It was a good thing too. Homemade fajitas are ten times better than the store bought ones, and take just 20 minutes to prepare, and about 20 minutes to make. As long as you roll the dough as thinly as possible, you'll be okay. If you have a pasta maker, get it out. Its perfect for making fajitas. Visit All Recipes for the recipe.



Preparation time is usually about 20 to 60 minutes depending on what your making. Allot of time is spent waiting for the dough to rise, or rest. The worst part about baking is the cleanup.

The information on how to bake your favorite bakery goods, like muffins, breads, tea biscuits is at your finger tips. Start with the food network site Food Network, and then search around the internet. You will be surprised what you can find. After you try a recipe, print it out and save it in a binder. Make up two binders, one for baked goods, and one for savory dishes.

When you make the same recipe several times, you will intuitively know how to put something together. Its that easy. Every month I buy one twenty pound back of all purpose floor, and use it to make bread, muffins, scones, tea biscuits, pancakes, or as an alternative to corn starch for some meals.

My favourite bread to make is egg and whole wheat bread. Since I've done it many times, I don't have to look at the recipe. I start with the yeast. While its rising, I start putting together the dough. Bread is pretty straight forward, and if you need your dough well, your bread will always turn out.

If you have never made bread, I recommend you visit Food Network. Another site I recommend is All Recipes. Start with a straight forward white bread recipe like this one, All Recipes . Read the recipe carefully, and then start putting the ingredients together. It is not always straight forward, and you may need to use your best judgement. A rule of thumb is to separate the dry from the wet and mix it together. One of the more challenging recipes is cinnamon rolls.

Take the time to learn how to bake. It is easier then you'd think, and your children won't leave home. A tip to the parents out there, get your kids involved when you bake and cook.

My mother always baked and cooked, and I took away some of what she did into my adulthood, and it has served me well. The cooking shows have inspired me to cook better meals. Get inspired and get cooking. You can do it to. Always remember, its easier than you'd think, and you will be eating much healthier.

Websites Referenced in this blog;

i. Food Network
ii. All Recipes
iii. Check out my blogs at punchmeout.ca..

No Respect for Cyclists

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Unlike the majority of people I don't own a car, due to my current financial circumstances. I either walk to get where I am going, or choose to take my bicycle. If I owned a car, I would not be able to live comfortably. I'd be living in an apartment paying rent, looking for spare change on the ground, and making trips to the food bank. These days it seems like everyone with a car thinks their better than anyone without a car, and think that cyclists should get off the road, and ride their bicycles for recreational purposes only in parks, and by-cycle paths, wherever there available.

It infuriates me to think that this may be the case with many drivers. I pay my taxes, and I have every right to ride my by-cycle wherever, and whenever as long as I am following the rules of the road.

Bicycles are not just for recreation, people more and more people are using their bicycles to get to work and school. Many roads are not designed for cyclists. When the roads were built, cars were popular, and no one would dream of getting around without one.

This perception is starting to change. People are starting to realize the benefits to riding their bicycles. It puts more money into their pockets, they don't have to concern themselves with parking, and their is an added health benefit as well. Slowly, city planners are realizing the benefits of planning for more bike infrastructure. It reduces traffic congestion, road maintenance, decreases toxic pollutants, and improves physical activity levels, thereby reducing cases of obesity, and the strain on the health care system.

According to Transport Canada, non recreational cycling is on the rises. Most people use it to get to and from work. According to 2006 statistics only 1.4% of the country's Census Metropolitan Area's cycle to work regularly. The numbers have been increasing though, it was 1.2% in 1996 and 1.3% in 2001. Victory, BC had the highest number of bicycle commuters in 2006 at 5.6%. Kingston, ON, and Saskatoon, SK shared a second place.

Unfortunately, there are many barriers to bicycle use. Most streets do not have proper bike path, streets are poorly maintained, and are narrow. In 2004 commuters in Amsterdam were surveyed for reasons why they did not choose their bicycle to ride to work on their bicycles. The main reasons for choosing not to ride their bicycles to work were speed, discomfort, feeling unsafe, and the inability to carry passengers. (i)

Providing more and better infrastructure is the key to improving commuter perception of cycling to work or school. When new subdivisions are built and new roads are constructed, consideration should be made to accommodate cyclists.

Cyclists have every right to share the road as drivers. It doesn't mean that they don't have to follow the same rules. Cyclist’s must follow the rules of the road just has drivers do; however, there are two rules that cyclists must pay special attention to. Since cyclist’s usually travel at a lower speed they must stay to the right of the road, and must give way to faster traffic when safe and practice. (ii)

If you ride your by-cycle to get around there are a few rules that you need to keep in mind. According to the Ministry of Transportation, cyclists must stay a least one metre from the side of the road or close to the right hand edge of the road, when there is no curb. (Often that is not practical. You may have to ride closer than one metre, within reason according to the road conditions.)

When riding around cars you should ride your bike in a straight line. If your changing lanes you must yield the right away to the other vehicles in the lane. The person moving into the lane, should wait until an opening becomes available, signal, check over their shoulder and then change lanes.

Be aware that shoulder checks are can be dangerous; although. It may be helpful to get a by-cycle mirror. Your eyes should never leave the road when you ride your bicycle. Rely on your per-phial vision, and if you have to look to the side or behind you, be quick and keep yourself steady. Small stones, and pot holes can send you flying over your handle bars, and into the traffic. When buying a mirror, be careful, some mirrors may be too small to be really useful. Look around and see what your options are. If your living in a small town or city, your options may be extremely limited, check out Ebay.

I live in Brockville, Ontario, and take my bike to and from work, and to run errands. I don't own a car, and it is my only way aside from walking to get around in this small city, that is still going no after over 100 years. The buses run on the hour, and end at about 5:30 PM. Streets are just wide enough for cars to get through and pass each other. There is poor lighting on many streets, no crossing lights at some street corners, and some streets have no sidewalks.

I follow the rules of the road, and pay my taxes like everyone else. If your a cyclist, be aware of your surroundings, and follow the rules of the road. Stay out of the way, and find alternative means of crossing busy intersections. Drivers be respectful of cyclists. They have a right to ride the road just like you do.

Websites Referenced in this blog;

(i) Ministry of Transportation
(ii) Transport Canada

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Insurance Companies Squeezing your Food Budget

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Insurance rates keep rising, and my food budget keeps shrinking. Soon there will be nothing left. Every year I go to the mailbox and there's another notice from the Insurance Company that my house insurance has gone up another $10. This is not fair. Five years ago my house insurance was $90 a month, and now I am paying $135 a month, and I haven't filed a claim, yet.
When I shopped around the quotes I got were not much better, DLK Insuance was $145, WC Burgess was worse with $157. This is outrageous. When will it stop? My earnings haven't increased, and I am paying out more and more for my insurance.

I expect it to go up another $10 this year, and the year after that. If it keeps going up without any interference from the government, in another 5 years I will be forking out $185 a month for house insurance on a 1500 square foot house, on a corner lot. I don't have a car, and I haven't filed any claims on my house, since I bought it.

What am I to do? I live in a small city called Brockville with about 50 000 people in total. Its growing but the jobs are a mixture of industrial and retail. The best you can expect is miniumum wage, and part-time hours. I moved here from Ottawa, Ontario to take a job at a local call center now call Transcom, since I am a Anglophone, and couldn't work in french (Times have changed in Ottawa. There are very few jobs for Anglophones.). I worked there about 2 years, before I had to quit to stress.

At that time, I'd worked at call centers for about 10 years, and I reached my breaking point. Its been down hill from that point. I've managed by taking whatever jobs I could get, and working for myself doing web site maintenance and design. (I have a 3 year diploma from St. Lawrence College in Business Administration Information Systems. It is really just an expensive piece of paper on the wall. I only really learned something after graduation, as Technology changed, and I started doing odd jobs for myself.).

I worked for a while as an inserter at the Recorder and Times, until they shut down their operations, and then ended up as cleaner. Since February 2011, I've been working at full time for a company Milestone Industrial Services for about 2 years now.

At the end of the month I had about $100 a month for food. Since the insurance company started grabbing more and more cash from my pocket, I am really at around $60 a month, and it keeps shrinking.

Part-time work and finding additional work for myself are my only options, aside from moving away from Brockville. Its only going to get worse, according to what their doing to grow the city. The city is trying to attract people 50 and up to grow the population. What a joke! More old people to fill the retirement homes.

In 2003 the average Ontario Insurance premium was $1200, by 2011 that figure had $1500, according to the Insurance Bureau of Canada. Good news though. One of the demands New Democratic leader Andrea Horwath made a rollback of 15% in insurance premiums, one of her demands in return to get this years budget passed (See, Ontario Liberals and NDP team up against auto insurance industry).

According to an article on http://financialplan.about.com/od/homeownersinsurance/a/Homeowners.htm . There are some things you can do to decrease your insurance. The main option is to consider increasing your deductible. Your deductible decreases the risk that the insurance company takes on, and lowers your monthly payment. This offers a brief reprieve, until your rates go up again. I've gone from $1000 to 2000 and I am right back where I started. Its like the dog chasing his tail, and who gets stuck in the end. You are. Something happens, and you must pay the deductible. The only thing working for you is the fact that you may get a discount off your deducible, the longer you stay with your insurance company.

Hopefully, there will be some relief in the future. Something has to happen, another minimum wage increase is not the answer. Employers aren't able to pay more to there employees, and every time there is a wage increase, the employers must compensate, by increasing prices for the services and products they provide. Its a vicious circle.

The worst part of it all is the children. The insurance companies are stealing food from your children's mouths. The insurance company increases there rates, and you can't feed your children any more. Government must stop allowing insurance companies from increasing there rates, or people will be forced to try and work three jobs to keep up, sell their homes, and visit the food banks just to survive.

Check out my blogs at punchmeout.ca..