Category Archives: Daily Scribble

My random thoughts of the day.

Daily Scribble

Carbon tax and rebate

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The BC liberal government is going to add a 2 cent carbon tax to all fuel starting July 1.  At the same time, we will get a $100 cash rebate from the government in the name of climate action division.  The idea is you can spent the money to lower your carbon footprint.  However with the gas price reaching record hight, I guess I will just simply spend my rebate to fill up my gas tank before the new tax becomes effective.  The government may seem generous on rebate, but the money actually come from my pocket.  In a long run, we still have to pay more tax, which is bad.

I don’t see any way we can cut our consumption on oil.  Only those who are too naive or stupid will think public transit can replace automobile as a mean of transportation.  Time is also money.  The time I wasted stuck in a bus is much more than the money I have to spent on gas.  Taking public transport doesn’t make any sense unless your home and destination is right next to a Skytrain station.  Maybe the only solution is to invent some new source of energy to power our cars.

Daily Scribble

Earthquake Donation

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Finally, I have made my donation to Red Cross Canada for the China earthquake. I have been waiting for the company to setup the 1:1 matching program with Red Cross before I donate my money. There is no need to donate money in a hurry, victims probably won’t use all the donation until rebuilding begins, which is still a few weeks away. Now, I have made my donation and I can get check off this to-do list item. After I have made my donation, I am entitled to criticize how the China government spend the donation. It is my money after all. I have the right to see it well spent to help the victims. Definitely not on buying some over priced supplies.

Since the earthquake, I see lots of groups ask for donation in shopping mall or street corners. Most of them are just holding a box and ask people passing to donate some money. I can never understand why would anyone want to donate cash. It is the most inefficient way of making a donation. You don’t get a tax receipt for your donation, so the donation post-tax money, which is a lot more expensive that it should cost. You don’t get any 1:1 matching from corporate sponsors. I think for anyone who want to donate money, they should donate through their friends who associates with any 1:1 matching program. As a responsible donor, you got to make sure every dollar your donate will brings the most benefit to the victims.

On a second thought, why do we need to donate at all? Here are two simple facts. The cost to rebuild the earthquake area is estimated to be around $70 billion. The Chinese government has over $1 trillion reserve in its bank. Why don’t the Chinese government spent their own money to help their own people first before asking for our donation? At least the Chinese government should have a 1:1 matching program. They should take a dollar out of the huge money reserve for every dollar we donate.

Daily Scribble

CAD$1000 internet bill

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My internet bill in India is CAD$1000 for two months.  Yes, it is a one followed by three zeros.  Luckily it’s none of my business, the bill is charged to the company.    The price is really outrageous but I don’t feel sorry for the company, they totally asked for it.  Here is how the story goes.  When I first arrive in India, the guest house has an internet service with unlimited bandwidth and static IP.  It works great except it is a bit pricey, but still much cheaper than $500 per month.  Some idiot in the India office decide to cut cost and switch to ADSL.  The ADSL service is not so great.  There were internet blackout every other day in the beginning and it took them two weeks to fix the problem.  Anyways, in the end the ADSL works, so I can download the latest stuff off BT in India just like I am in Canada.

To my surprise, the company went cheap and subscribed a plan with a low monthly bandwidth quota.  Any bandwidth usage go over the quota limit is 0.8 rupee per MB.  In short, I ended up using 50GB for two months.  It may sound a lot but it is still less than my monthly average in Canada.  Here is the maths for the internet bill: 50000MB x 0.8 rupee / 40 rupee per CAD$ = CAD$1000.  They company should learn their lesson that cost cutting too much will end up paying a lot more at the end.

Daily Scribble

Reasons to start a hobby

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Today lunch time, one of my friends at work mentions he want to start photography as a new hobby. He was asking some more experienced photographers about which camera he should buy. Photography is a pretty common hobby, I have many friends really into taking photos. Most people pick up photography because they like expressing themselves through the picture or simply fancy about the equipments. This friend has quite an usual reason, he pick up the hobby so he will have common topic with his future father in law, who is really addicted to cameras.

Guy usually use the dad strategy when he is still courting the girl. There is not much incentive to go an extra mile to please the dad after the deal is sealed. I suspect my friend’s claim to have common topics with the dad is just an excuse. He must be really want to get into photography for a long time. Now he find a perfect excuse to get approval from his girlfriend to spend money on new toys.

Luckily for me, I don’t have to start a new hobby in order to have conversation with my father in law. My primary hobby is probably the only activity he shows any interest. If I have a daughter, it would be quite interesting to see my future son in law pick up my hobby. On a second thought, he may still pick up the hobby anyways for another reason, to protect his own safety from a jealous father in law.

Daily Scribble

DVC Indoor Range

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DVC

What is the photo? Toilet? No! It’s DVC Indoor Range, probably the best shooting facility in greater Vancouver. It opened almost half year ago. Out of many reasons, I couldn’t try the range until today. One of the reason is price. When it first open, it was very expensive. $65 for a lane including a rental gun and a box of ammo. Later they introduce the $30 day pass if you bring your own gun. However the price is still over my comfort zone. The range I usually practice at only cost $5 per night. Recently they start special promotion, two for one Wednesday. What a good deal! So me and my shooting buddy decided to try it out tonight.

The shooting range is very close to work, only 15 minutes drives away. The range is housed in a modified warehouse with reinforce steel walls to keep the bullets safe. The building is air conditioned, so the temperature is kept in a comfortable 20 degree. It has 13 lanes. When we were there, the range is empty. We have pretty much a private shooting session in the first hour. The best of all the perks is the auto target return system. You don’t have to wait for everyone finish their shooting and the range office puts on the green light before you can check your target. You can bring the target sheet back to you at the ease of pressing a button. Not more interruptions to halt your fire while waiting for the green light. It is so convenient.

I think I will split my shooting practice between this range and my usual range. The facility in this range is far superior than the other range. However, I will miss the friendly atmosphere in the other range. It is inconvenient to halt your fire every 15 minutes, yet it gives you the time to socialize with your fellow shooters. The new range not only looks like a toilet, the atmosphere actually feels like a toilet. Everyone occupy one stall and busy doing their own business. People are isolated in their personal space with no communication with each other.  The old fashion shooting range maybe less efficient, but it is nice to feel the presence of a community.

DVC Indoor Range