Over-zealous salespeople - part III

Another rant about overzealous salespeople ( a follow-up to this and this ).

As I mentioned previously, I have a real beef about walking into a retail store and being inundated by salespeople pestering me, when all I want to do is walk around and browse. I went into Staples today to have a look around. I love Staples almost as much as I love hardware stores. I generally go in thinking there is one thing I need, but, as I wander around I generally discover something else I need and didn't even realize it till I see it. But, I only discover this if left to my own devices rather than them trying to hurry me along and direct me to the right aisle. I was there no more than 20 minutes, yet I was asked by 4 different salespeople if they could help me. Granted, the Staples I visited has 3 floors, therefore, as I wandered from floor to floor they couldn't have known I had been asked previously. And, on the 3rd floor where I was asked twice if I required assistance - one guy was on a ladder, so that is almost like a 4th floor. In hindsight I should have accepted the offer of assistance from the ladder dude - made him come down from there and show me where the pencils are.

After Staples I headed into Coles Bookstore. I had just placed a book back on the shelf when I heard that dreaded "may I help you find something"? Now, in this particular case there were several other shoppers around yet he asked me. I didn't hear him ask anyone else. So, this got me to thinking, "what do I put out there that they think I need assistance so badly"? I feel I'm walking around confidently, but, they are obviously seeing this:


I don't recall ever putting my hand on my head and looking confused & dejected while shopping, but, perhaps I'm on auto-pilot and don't realize.

So my new mission is to change the attitude and see if anything changes. Next time I'm going to try to project frantic:

I am hoping they'll be too scared to approach. This will be a one week experiment and if that doesn't work I'll try something else. Not sure what the something else will be yet.

Sign & Donate

I’m trying to find out who started this whole “sign this card and donate towards a gift” for someone in the workplace. The card/gift could be for an up coming wedding, a baby, a birthday, a retirement, a new home – yada yada yada. Who the hell started this insanity?

I work in a large office and it seems like this is a monthly affair now. I have never in my life purchased a card and got the ball rolling for something like this in the workplace. Am I close enough to the people to be invited to the wedding? Thankfully, no! I find it difficult enough feeling obligated to attend family functions (with the exception of immediate family).

If someone in the office is close to a particular peer and wishes to give them a gift – then just do it! Don’t get a community card and send it around for everyone to sign. I especially detest the cards for when someone is leaving the company. They’re obviously going to something better with more money – why should we be giving them a gift? If it’s the thought that counts shouldn’t my best wishes be enough? Putting your money where your mouth is doesn’t hold water for me in this case.

Whoever started this insanity needs to be………..

Finally! How to Find or Keep Your Soulmate/Lifemate

You just never know what you'll find when you open your email. Today I received this gem from The Learning Annex:

How to Find or Keep Your Soulmate/Lifemate

Love doesn't have to be hit or miss. Having true love is not only possible, it is your destiny! Soulmate relationships have a powerful "mirroring" effect. Not only is it possible to meet your soulmate, but you have multiple soulmates and can meet and have relationships with more than one during this lifetime.

Bestselling author Jeanne Marie Martin has been seeing her past lives since she was a little girl and has met 42 soulmates in this lifetime alone. She has a wealth of fascinating information that can help you to understand your own lives and love relationships, both past and present.

She'll reveal:

• How to meet a soulmate, or attract and create a significant relationship that will assist healing your past karma and help you to fulfill your dharma (life purpose).

• Various techniques for seeing and recognizing past lives and loves, and clearing past karma that interferes with love.
  
  
• Ways to open up love connections that will enrich your life.

Plus, you'll learn about: The Energy of Relationships – how you can create, enhance and protect a long, loving Lifemate Relationship.

She makes it sound pretty simple. For a mere $49.95 you'll finally find your true love - or many loves. All those dating services will be freaking when they find out they may be soon out of business. Perhaps I'll forward this on to the people from here.

Rest in peace, Luna

aww, this is too sad. Poor Luna, the killer whale died today in an accident.

Yahoo! news reports

GOLD RIVER (CP) - It appears Luna the orphaned killer whale has died after being struck by a tugboat on the west coast of Vancouver IslandThe federal fisheries department says the boat was idling to escape rough weather in Nootka Sound when it collided with the whale.

A department official says it was an accident and the boat's skipper is distressed over the incident.

Luna arrived in the sound in 2001 after becoming separated from his pod.

Although the whale was friendly, he became a nuisance to marine traffic in the area and an attempt was made in 2004 to reunite him with his pod in Juan de Fuca Strait.

But that effort was abandoned after he was lured away by First Nations canoes.

The First Nations thought Luna was the re-incarnated soul of their chief, and believed nature should be allowed to take it’s course. Sheesh! Unfortunately, Luna has now joined the chief.

The Dating Game

The Toronto Star has started their 2006 Relationship Challenge.

I think this is the first one they've had so I'm looking forward to following it. They selected 11 men and 9 women out of 500 applicants. The goal is to find romance in the next 4 - 6 months. The Toronto Star is picking up the tab for the various dating services.

Dating - grrrr. Was it always this difficult? I guess there are more single people these days due to the disposability of relationships. People give up too quickly. Having a rough time? Leave! It's so unlike the past. My parents have been together over 40 years. I'm sure there were times one or both would have liked to throw in the towel, but, they didn't. They had a family and a commitment. Commitment - there is a word that seems to have changed meanings these days. I commit to you now - but, may change my mind later when I'm no longer having fun.

Anyhow, I'm interested in what the success rate will be in this challenge. I'm especially interested in what the durability rate is 6 months or even a year after the challenge comes to an end.

Pets and people

According to this article people see their pets as an extension of themselves:

Human beings are famous for choosing pets that resemble themselves. Sometimes this resemblance can be seen in the physical sense and other times it’s revealed through behavior, which is to say that we are naturally attracted to people or animals that complement our own personalities...

The article goes on to explain the 6 different categories of dogs.

Well, my honey wants to get fish. I won't know until she gets them how she sees herself.

Possibly as a frog fish:


Yikes! As an angler?


Maybe a sad fish.

I just hope she makes me this.

25 days and counting..

April 3rd is the magic date!

Cheaters - take two!

This is my quick take on the three sites listed in the Yahoo! news article I talked about in my previous post.

This review is based on spending about 15 minutes on each site AND without registering. I'm sure there are alot more features if you sign up.

www.dontdatehimgirl.com

You can do a search on their database without registering. The search can be by city, name or keywords. I’m not sure how extensive their database is, because I did a search on three large cities and didn't get as many hits as I thought I would have. Toronto gave me 6 cheaters, New York gave me 262, and Chicago yielded 15.

I decided to do a ‘keyword’ search (even though I have no idea what keywords I could use). I tried something simple like “fat”. I received 60 results, but, I'm not sure what they are based on. I was expecting something petty like, “he cheated on me with a fat woman”, or, “he thinks he’s so hot, but, he’s fat now”. However, I didn’t see the word fat in the description of the cheaters I randomly checked out. Some of the cheaters listed had negative comments from other women that had dated them as well, but, how do we really know they are legitimate? The comments could just be from friends of the original poster.

They have a blog that I checked out quickly. It looks like a lot of fun - they name the cheater of the day! I plan to visit it again soon.

www.womansavers.com

I couldn’t find an easy way to do a search – unless I had a name. Unfortunately, I’m unfamiliar with cheaters or anyone that would use a site like this. I threw in some random names and it yielded no results.

As the Yahoo! News article suggested, one can ‘rate-a-guy’ and you can do searches in that area, by: name, city, birthdates etc. However, the results seem more like template responses as opposed to free entry. For example, here is a portion of the results for a ‘ratee’ I brought up:

MARRIAGE/COMMITTMENT

1. The man wants
Marriage

2. This man wants
A relationship of convenience where he doesn’t have to work at it

3. This man
Wants dependents and/or pets as long as YOU take care of them

4. He has been divorced
Never

5. Regarding marriage/life time commitment, this man
Is ready to fully commit to the right person

There are many articles on how to find out if your significant other is cheating on you. They give high tech advice (computer key logger or voice-activated digital tape recorder) as well as sneaky ways (i.e.. tell him you’re going away for a weekend, then follow him or wait to see if he brings anyone home). They also list signs to look for.

A message board with lots of stories is also available – but, you have to be registered to post.

www.truedater.com

I couldn’t access this site. It says I’m not authorized to view. That is not the typical message one gets if the site is down, so not sure what is going on.

I have to say, I find this all rather amusing. As far as I know I've never been cheated on, and I myself, have never cheated. I think too many women want each man they meet to be 'the one', so they build the relationship up in their own heads, where the reality doesn't support it. As I said in my previous post, actions speak louder than words. It's easy to say the words "I love you", it's harder to show it.

Anyhow, keep on dumping the dudes and put their pictures up on these sites - I want to see them!

Cheaters! Film at 11

Yahoo! news has an article about websites that allow people to post information about cheaters and/or liars. I had heard about these sites before, and today I was referred to this article.

Internet dating is becoming more and more popular. I agree with the article when it says that you have the opportunity to get to know someone (in the privacy of your own home), without even having to date. Allows one to filter out the undesirables. However, in my own experience I've always taken what someone says with a grain of salt. Words are actually very easy. Action is what speaks volumes to me. I like seeing interaction in chatrooms. Chatrooms can get lively, whether it's with debates, or with confrontations. I like seeing how people behave in these situations. I've chatted with people privately that tell me how respectful they are of people, only to see them in a chatroom taking the bait from troublemakers, and becoming extremely offensive. Character can shine through in on-line environments. After all, energy is energy.

The sites listed in this Yahoo! news article appeal to my scandalous curiosity. After all, it's one of the reasons reality shows are so popular. I have no sympathy for cheaters, however, I do think these sites can be easily abused.

Now, I am off to check them out - wonder if I'll run across anyone I know.

Over-zealous salespeople - part II

This is a follow-up to my over-zealous salespeople posting.

I now realize that the degree of frustration with them depends on what type of establishment you are in. In my previous posting I mentioned clothing stores; hardware stores & bookstores. Well, yesterday I went looking for a specialty item. This item can only be found in an adult type store. After all, a woman's best friend can at times be a toy. Yesterday I went walking into this adult store at approximately 12:30pm. The moment I walked in and heard "hi, how are you today" yelled at me from across the room - I knew I was in trouble. I knew in that split second that I was a) the only customer in the store, and b) the sales guy was bored and happy to see someone.

Now, it's not as if this shop is in some seedy part of town. It's on Yonge St. right across from the Eaton Centre. High foot traffic. I don't go there often but, anytime I have been there in the past it's been nicely populated. Where everyone was on a Sunday afternoon at 12:30, I have no idea. Perhaps they don't visit sex shops on Sundays - or maybe they're at home having hmmmm.

So, I continued in the store and started looking around. "Can I help you find anything", I hear. I think my groan was audible. I didn't know if this particular store would carry what I was looking for - but, I certainly had no intention of discussing it with him. Left on my own I would have found it, if they carried it. I can't believe the guy attempted to engage me in conversation as it was obvious I was looking for something. I'm no prude, but, when in a shop like this LEAVE ME ALONE!. I quickly saw that the shop didn't have what I was looking for and bolted.

I then wandered down Queen St. Came across a hemp & cannabis store. I heard about a cafe in Kensington Market selling marijuana, so I wondered if this place did as well. It was fairly busy in there. Under a display case they had a tonne of bongs (i think that is the proper term for them) and pipes. I don't care for drugs - don't do them. However, I loved the look of all these pipes and bongs - the colours, the sizes - was very intriguing. I thought for a moment that it would be nice to start a collection of these - but, as the thought entered by mind I heard "may I help you find anything in particular" - grrrrrrrr, lady, I don't even know what you sell in here. Chances are the pipes I was looking at aren't even called pipes. I bolted again.

Wandered around for a bit and came home without my purchase. I have to do a search on-line for it.

The Art of De-cluttering

With spring right around the corner I once again need to start the de-cluttering process. I have attempted this the last two years, but, the most I seem to get rid of is one garbage bag full. Through out the year I probably accumulate at least 10 additional garbage bags. This year I am in a crunch though. My partner is moving back in with me therefore I have to make room. I have clothes I haven't worn in over a year - but, I'm reluctant to get rid of them. What if I need them at some point? I have so many shoes - but, they're in great condition so don't want to get rid of them either.

So, I have absolutely no closet space to share and very little drawer space. Realistically I know I don't need all this stuff but it's so hard getting rid of it. Is there such a thing as a de-clutter life coach? If not, there should be. I need someone to come in here while I'm out and clean by place out. I have cupboards in my kitchen that I never even open - they are full of stuff I never use.

Well, I'm committed to doing something about it this time! Unfortunately, I can't bring myself to just throw things out. Clothes are easy - I can donate them to Goodwill or the Salvation Army. It's the other things. I probably have 30 puzzles. I don't want to just throw these out - most are in great condition. I searched on-line today on where I could donate these. Didn't find a spot. Perhaps, I'll try the local pawn shops to see if they'll take them. I don't care if I'm compensated or not - I just want to give them away.

Uggg, I am not looking forward to this undertaking.