The Brainroast

With summer rapidly approaching, young specimens of Weeping Japanese Maples are getting more difficult to find. So we decided to try an alternative: air layering a branch of a Bloodgood Japanese Maple from Kathy’s parents.

These are the instructions I followed. They use Acer Palmatum (Japanese Maple) as an example. Perfect: Layering Techniques

Tools:

• Bubble Wrap
• Peat Moss
• Root Stimulant
• Twist ties
• Some tapes

Steps:

1. soak peat moss
2. remove a ring of bark, ideally under a new branch
3. apply root stimulant to wound
4. fixate bubble wrap around wound with twist ties
5. insert soaked peat moss at the top
6. strengthen with tapes

Immediate result:

Let’s see how it turns out in a few months.

With the paintjob on the wall redone, we decide it’s time to add some pizzaz to the living room – the lowest hanging fruits at the time seem to be these unsightly temporary paper curtains (1 of 2 shown).

We have some Flyn Ofelia from Ikea that I originally wanted to hang on the wall but ultimately Kathy thought it’d fit the curtain hole better.

In the Ikea showroom, the Flyn Ofelia seems to be somewhat restricted in its usage – as side-scrolling pieces of curtain panel fabric sold separately with relatively expensive curtain panel accessories – rings, clips, rails, adding up to more than the fabric itself. Plus a side-scrolling system is unsuitable for the shape of our windows. This marks the beginning of our first Ikea hack.

After some exploration we come across the Isdans plain roller blinds. Extremely cheap, easy to install, fits our windows perfectly and with a width identical to the Flyn.

At this point the direction of the hack becomes very clear: sew the Flyn on top of the Isdan to create a unique roller blind.

1. Cut the Flyn fabric so it slightly extends beyond the Isdan at both ends.
2. Line the fabric up with the blind and sew on the two sides temporarily to fix the alignments. Make sure these temporary stitches are easy to remove.
3. Fold and then sew the Flyn fabric over the back at the lower end of the blind. Leave a little space of about 2 cm in diameter.
4. Roll the Flyn fabric over the top end of the blind and adhere it to the rod with some glue. My favourite is the Shoe Goo, a silicone-based adhesive. In theory any silicone-based, transparent glue should do the job.
5. When the glue is set and cured, remove the temporary stitches on the sides.
6. Do NOT permanently sew the fabric on the two sides of the blind.

The reason why the two sides must not be sewn, is because the attached fabric rolls at a higher rate than the blind itself due to it being always slightly further from the centre of the rod – sewing them together may seem fine at first, but as you roll them up sewn, it’ll turn into a mess of wrinkles and ridges.

This picture illustrates how it should look at the bottom of the blind. Note the absence of stitches (it has stitch holes, yes, we screwed up once :)

The final result (showing 1 of 2). A quick “morning after” inspection confirms that it diffuses sunlight to the ambience far better than the temporary blinds did, while also providing more privacy.

Not bad for $25 per (as of now, one-of-a-kind) blind still with an entire piece of fabric left over, eh?

Finally, soft blues and whites go pretty well with browns, you can quote us on that.

Granted it does not look like a cookie-cutter reply, but they evade my most serious concern.
Anyway, this has been dragged on for far longer than I like. Next up you’ll see something more exciting. :)

November 14, 2008
Fax: (416) 869-1662

Reference No: 2008010974
Mr. Michael Lam
Dear Mr. Lam:
Thank you for your comments about the changes to recent boarding procedures at Richmond Hill GO.
Earlier this year, we lengthened Richmond Hill trains to ten cars; however, the platform at Richmond Hill GO is only eight cars long. While extending the platform to accommodate ten cars would be the ideal solution, we face major restrictions due to the bridge on the south end and curvature of the track at the north end. As a result, Bombardier had a second Customer Service Ambassador on board the trains for training purposes who would monitor the boarding and prevent the off-platform doors from opening.

With Bombardier’s takeover of Conductor and Assistant Conductor positions, effective October 27th, we no longer have this second person available to assist with door operations. Subsequently, it was necessary to change the door operation to protect the safety of our passengers. Thus the reason for the five door procedure initiation. Overwhelming complaints from customers surfaced regarding the five car procedure, and in the interest of customer satisfaction, a new operating procedure was established and implemented (announcements made on all trains) and eight car boarding was reinstated as of Thursday October 30th.

The revised agreement was reached by both CN and Bombardier and the procedure implemented was as follows: The train stops at the south end of the platform dropping the Commuter Train Operator on the platform. The train then pulls ahead to its normal stopping location, the operator is now able to operate the doors from the eighth car, which allows cars one through eight to open, previously only one through five due to the reduced crew member. The Customer Service Ambassador remains at the accessible car to address the lowering and raising of the disabled ramp.

Admittedly, this procedure has a tendency to delay the trains arrival minimally while the operator is being dropped off on the platform, (approximately a minute) but it was chosen as the best possible procedure to address the reduction in crew.

As with all new procedure implementation, fine tuning is required and necessary adjustments made. Complaints regarding the process are forwarded to Rail Operations to address. Recently, our Supervisor in Rail Operations followed up with Bombardier as a result of your email to ensure all crews are following proper procedures. As GO Transit continues to evaluate its service, input from passengers is both essential and welcomed. We appreciate you taking the time to share your concerns, and, we thank you for your patience and continued support.

Sincerely,
Jill Lamont
Customer Service Representative
GO Transit

Signs of poor customer understanding start pouring in, to the point that I’m starting to lose my cool. Just spent another 15 minutes during lunch for another “feedback”. Am I bitching too much?

Hello,

I have been a GO rider for 3 years and I, like many more fellow
passengers I see every evening, am quite (to put it mildly) aggravated
by the latest of what seems to be a series of new policies aimed at
making our trip home less safe and more inconvenient.

First there was the dangerous and unnecessary 5-car-door measure that
the explanation of having one less customer service ambassador just
could not justify, and when we thought that nightmare was over, we had
seen nothing yet:

Now it seems some of the cars just open one out of two doors at
Richmond Hill. A GO employee needs to press the open button from the
outside, get in, and 30 seconds later the other door would open.

No announcement, no justification, not even an excuse.

Half of the customers in the car trapped in front of a door that would
not open, and today, I guarantee you that you’ll see all of them
jammed at the door that will open first. It also makes one wonder
about things that would happen if the door-tender isn’t there. Would
everyone be trapped?

What is so wrong about having both of the doors open automatically, at
the same time, like the way it has been working for years a mere 3
weeks ago?

This sort of management was simply inconceivable during the days GO
Trains were run by CN staff and if anything, I can now understand why
those who long for the return of CN management are growing in numbers:
at this rate, I can perfectly foresee GO Transit’s service level
running off some certain precipice in the near future.

I expect and look forward to receiving a prompt reply on:

1. the justification of this new affront to our convenience and safety, which is more serious than the 5-car-door fiasco, and

2. steps that will be taken to ensure that future measures of this kind will come with justifications that are communicated clearly to GO customers when the measures are announced, not after we ask for them.

Thank you.

I always hear about the nice theory that insignificant things can be done to make positive impacts proportionally larger than the effort you put in.

Well, that occurred to me, at least it’s what I want to believe.

In a morning about 2 months ago, among some 40 other people, we were at the Langstaff GO station waiting for the Southbound bus to Union station, that shares this bus stop with a significantly less popular line, let’s call it the Eastbound line.

That morning, the Eastbound bus arrived at the bus stop first to pick up its petty 6 or 7 passengers, with our Southbound bus following immediately behind. Normally, you’d think the Southbound bus would wait for a few seconds before the bus in front has left, then creeps up and opens its door at the front of the line-up.

Well, by now you may have guessed it. For some funny reason the bus driver, in his infinite wisdom, decided that 10 seconds was too long to wait and proceeded to open the bus door right then, right there at the end of the line-up.

The result? People who arrived at the bus stop first got to board the bus last – the line-up was effectively reversed. The driver? Acted as if nothing had happened while all passengers were sent onto mental whirls, and for the elders and children who arrived first, physical torments, too.

I noted the bus number and spent my first minute at work looking on the GO Transit web site for some mean to spend the next 5 lambasting submitting my comments. I arrived at this form with precisely 3 clicks from GO Transit’s home page.

I specifically asked them to respond with specific measures to prevent future incidences.

Honestly I did not expect them to reply at all but something amazing happened after 3 weeks.

August 8, 2008
Fax: (416) 869-1662

Reference No: 2008007058
Dear Michael:
Thank you for your e-mail regarding the Richmond Hill GO Bus service on July 15, 2008.
We apologize for the delay in responding. Please be assured that every attempt is made to board from the front of the line.

Orderly boarding is sometimes challenging due to other buses sharing the same stops, vehicular traffic and passengers boarding with special needs, etc.
Unfortunately our bus drivers are also under time constraints and attempt to move people as quickly and safely as possible. We can assure you that every effort is made to accommodate our passengers’ needs and improve the level of convenience and comfort on our system.

Unfortunately, it is very difficult to enforce common courtesy, and we must rely on our customers to show their fellow commuters respect and consideration.
We have taken steps towards increasing passenger awareness via “GO News” (the GO Transit newsletter publication), commuter etiquette posters, and periodic advertisements in the Metro and 24 Hours newspapers.

Our Bus Operations department has reviewed your concerns about lack of seating on this service and has instructed the driver to use a larger bus, seating 57 passengers as opposed to a 49.
Hopefully this will alleviate some of the capacity concerns until a permanent increase in the service is scheduled.
Your comments regarding this issue have been forwarded to supervisory personnel in our Bus Operations department for their review.

We appreciate you taking the time to bring your concerns to our attention.

Sincerely,Andrea Corken
Customer Service Representative
Please direct all e-mail enquiries to publicrelations@gotransit.com

Indeed, around the same time I notice the bus has become larger and the Southbound bus now somehow always arrives first. Kudos!!

That made my day, and my 6 minutes’ loss of productivity at work totally worth it. GO Transit’s customer service probably has restored some of my long lost faith in public transits – well, at least it’s what I want to believe.

On a friend’s recommendation, we went to the local Costco to check out their latest product du jour – Pink Solution. It is a multi-purpose cleaner that can be used on all kinds of dirt, oil and grease. What supposed to set it apart from other clean-all is, they were touting it as “Natural, Non-Toxic and Biodegradable. Totally safe around children and pets.”

We approached their demonstration booth and surely we saw a usual demonstration – the type you can immediately associate with any as-seen-on-tv cleaning product – what seemed different was, they’re putting quite a bit of emphasis on how natural and safe their product was.

To drive home their claims, the saleswoman actually sprayed the solution into her mouth, multiple times during the demo. I was naturally in doubt – I’ve always been a believer of “the stronger the cleaner, the harsher to you” – I mean – if it can cut through grease with ease, chances are it can “clean” various mucus and film protecting your mouth and your cornea.

I inspected the packaging and found no clue on its ingredients. However, we picked up a bucket anyway – the bravery (to a fault) of the saleswoman seemed to do it for us. Brilliant sales tactics.

Back at home I went on their web site hoping to see what it was made of. No information. So I contacted them and asked for its MSDS. Here is what they sent me:

Page 1: Page 2:

While the MSDS itself does not tell me what the solution is made of, it offers slightly more insight on its actual safety.

Toxicological Properties:

• Skin Contact: May cause minor irritation to sensitive skin
• Eye Contact: May cause minor irritation to eyes
• Ingestion: May cause irritation mucous membranes
• Irritancy: May cause minor irritation but is not an irritant by WHMIS classification

(which really tells more about WHMIS coverage than irritancy)

Needless to say, I’m not going to try that sales stunt on myself any time soon. ;)

Hi All!

My name is Michael and I created this place as a window into my state of mind, share-worthy activities, and also for stashing what I find fun.

Whether this site will be to any degree (if at all) interesting will probably depend on my energy level and most importantly the phase of the moon. However you’ll always find something fermenting here. Thus the slogan “Semper Fervere”.

When I’m really inflamed, this place will also allow me to unleash my wrath in silico rather than in vivo on random unfortunate individual in my proximity :D I guess it can only be a good thing!

http://brainroast.net

Michael