Ekostrophic

I decided to give Ekos another chance, on the grounds that I might as well get paid for the first day. Predictably, I wound up regretting that decision. Today they put us on the phones, calling native reserves and asking invasive questions about aboriginal peoples' health. It makes you feel real classy asking women whether they consider themselves to be overweight and whether they continued to smoke and drink while they were pregnant. Plus most of the time people flat out refuse or hang up on you. I'll be glad to go back to the loving embrace back at the Resolve Corporation family on Monday afternoon. I haven't signed up for any more shifts at Ekos.

Second Job

I went in to Ekos to get trained today, and so far that job is pretty underwhelming. I'm seriously considering not going back. We spent the whole morning being read to out of the job manual in a small windowless room. Then we got to practice asking people inane questions in a neutral and non-threatening manner, asking them to distinguish between agreeing "a little" "somewhat" and "very much." Plus, you don't get a real break, and everyone takes their half-assed breaks seperately and all there is to do is stand around in the lobby. They don't even have a lunch room. Right now I vastly prefer my data-entry job, if only because its much more fun socially. Plus they told me that you have to go in 2 shifts a week, when my interviewer specifically said 1, which makes a difference when I'm already working another full time job. Boy what a stinking pile that was.

Toronto

I made it back from a harrowing weekend in Toronto. We saw all the sights, the carwash, the lingerie stores, the don valley parkway, Don Mills, and most importantly the mysterious Ice House. Despite the hype, the ice-house ice wine turned out to be a bit on the disgusting side, so, after some quiet sidling, the plants in the upstairs lounge are now much better watered than before. We should have gone for the vodka. Its still not too late for James and Marie!! As long as that security guard doesn't recognise James again, its should be easy.

Anyway, the restaurants were all good, even Rancho Relaxo where the relaxo referred to the level of service.


Check out the pics from the trip.

Winchester on the Korean street

I've been reading Simon Winchester's book Korea: A Walk through the Land of Miracles and he includes many amusing observations including this one:

"It might perhaps seem, in view of their immense hospitality, rather churlish to remark critically on Koreans' driving. But my strong impression then on the road to Kwangju - and it was an impression that didn't alter very much en route - was that the Korean driver is a very dangerous animal indeed, a beast totally without understanding of speed, pathologically incapable of steering, utterly ignorant of the width of his vehicle, and eternally forgetful of such luxuries as the brakes and mirrors with which his car is invariably equipped. He knows only one device, and this is the horn, on which he seems to spend most of his time sitting, if not standing."

There's a kernel of truth in there, especially about the horn, but maybe they've mellowed out a bit since the mid 1980s.

Working Stiff

Travelling Thor

After two months of over the top relaxation, I 've now been drafted into the exciting world of processing corporate tax returns. Oh no, not the whole tax return, not the juicy details, just the first couple of pages declaring the names, positions and addresses of all the officers. I now know how truly boring the names of suburban business parks across Ontario truly are. Industrial Road, Boundary Road #15, Urban Road, or to spice it up, edgeware road. And then half of these companies don't even have names!! They're just numbers. Anyway, its only for a month, and I now have another interview with Andrew's crowd down at Ekos research, which could potentially be more intersting. (I know its a stretch)