Double Your Order, It’s ‘FREE’ – All You Pay Is ‘EXTRA Shipping And Handling,’ Which Turns Out More Than The One Product

Anytown, Anywhere - We have all seen the ads on TV that say “As seen on TV”  and now the newest twist is, they force you to buy two products, even if you only want one. How is that, and why do they force us to buy more than one item, I thought the second product was FREE?

Maybe it’s only me, but it seems like a huge ripoff, since the second product is  ‘FREE’  you are required to pay EXTRA shipping and handling.  The EXTRA S&H works out to almost three times the cost of one product. I hope stores don’t start this idea, can you imagine, sorry you can’t buy one bottle of milk or one loaf of bread, you must buy five. How are they getting away with this scam?

I’ve called the TV sales numbers, and it’s hard to get a final total cost. They say  “it’s plus S&H and taxes,”  and I ask several times,  “What’s the total cost?” and we keep going in circles. They don’t want you to know, they want you to know, it’s only $9.95, but when you get the charges on your credit card after delivery, it works out to almost $40.

And most people are so embarrassed, they just eat it, and don’t complain, or ask for a refund because the refunds are usually allowed, but that’s minus the S&H so it’s more expensive to send it back, than what you originally paid in the beginning.

Sure, it’s fair for people to make money on their products, but to deceive and ripoff people, that is not fair. But what are governments doing about these new twists to TV deals? It appears nothing, since I see them more and more everyday. I’ve called a few times, and you can’t even buy just one item, you are required to receive your FREE  product but must pay the additional shipping and handling charges.

Are you buying these TV products, and do you feel ripped off? Maybe we all better ask,  ”What’s the final charges?” If you agree and LIKE this story, please click the LIKE button below, and tell everyone you know. If we stop buying in this way, maybe they will change it back??

Daniel … Toronto, CANADA
My take on everything
@dandmb50

Vancouver loses Stanley Cup finals, riots, fires, stabbings, looting downtown. Black eye on Vancouver again, 17 years later

Vancouver, CANADA - Vancouver Canucks lost the NHL Stanley Cup final game to Boston Bruins and after the game serious fires were lit and all kinds of looting downtown while police try to disperse the crowd with tear gas. Although a very few may be responsible for the violence the bottom line is it affects the whole city of Vancouver and isn't great for welcoming visitors, especially if they are from Boston.

Vancouver's mayor said it was a few bad apples and yet watching the local news it looked like young men who thought it was fun while they laughed and took tons of cell phone pictures. A snitch facebook page has already been created to post your pictures and tag them if you recognize anyone doing criminal activity. Very sad indeed and this could go on all night.

It was reported that there were over 100,000 people downtown cheering on the Canucks but after the game the mob mentality grew as people joined in and started throwing everything and anything at the police and setting fires and tipping cars. All downtown transit was cancelled and bridges to the city were closed to prevent more people from entering the downtown core.

PHOTO - Richard Lam -  It surprised me to see there was not enough officers to control the situation and what really amazed me was that there were police without any type of protective head gear, what were they thinking. And all of this happened 17 years ago and still they were not prepared? What was the deal with the police dogs, were they searching for something or were the police using them to intimidate the crowd? There was a guy in a blue shirt on some stairs confronting the police for about 15 minutes on the local LIVE TV news and the police held back, but did they finally arrest him.

Daniel ... Toronto, CANADA
My take on everything

 @dandmb50

Women’s Roller Derby hosting International Tournament Dec/2011

 LOOKING for the dangling KEY, scroll down, and make sure you copy the number to get the $25 credit to the account you open with no fees EVER, yes I said NEVER.


Toronto -Toronto Women’s Roller Derby League (TORD) will be hosting an International tournament in December 2011, venue location is still to be announced. There are just over 100 leagues in North America with 13 in Canada.

Photos courtesy of Sean Murphy

“We just won the bid to host the first ever World Cup of Roller Derby in Toronto, December 1-4, 2011 with 13 International teams from all over the world” said Krizsanta Muerte (Santa) a member of the Gore-Gore Roller Girls and defending champs of last years fifth season. Santa is also on the organizing committee for locations and on the Board of Directors for the league.

On Saturday night match at The Hanger at Downsiew Park, Santa’s Gore-Gore Roller Girls defeated Chicks Ahoy 132-83 and said “The Chicks are always super hard to play against but we did it Saturday night.”
The crowd base of just under 1000 were not disappointed by all the action and it cuts across all demographics, because in the beginning “Back when the league started five years ago, the fan base was mostly women 18-45 but now it has mushroomed into an all different crowd, since people are realizing there is a lot of strategy involved in the game, and Roller Derby is the only game in the world where both teams can score simultaneously,” said Santa.

The scoring is a little complicated and here is a summary of how the teams score points. There are five players on the track at any one time and the “Jammer” is the only one who can score points. “The Jammer gets points every time she laps an opposing blocker. A blockers job is to stop the other Jammer of the opposing team from getting her points and at the same time your Jammer is trying to get points” said Santa.

The rules are 44 pages long but there are really only about 10 major rules. Players violating the rules can accumulate minors and four minors will get the player one minute in the penalty box.

The draw for a lot of fans is that it is so hard to get tickets for major sports like hockey that they like to find something completely different and possibly win some championships.

The rules of Roller Derby are evolving all the time and they test the new rules in one game and then introduce them into the league rules if they are working. “Points can only be scored 20 feet in front of the pack.” commented Santa.

The league has an “All Star” team (CN Power) that travels all over North America and may be planning a trip to the Minnesota area in the near future.

Action get’s underway again this Saturday, April 16 at The Hangar at Downsview Park (Even the TTC stops at their front door) at 6:30pm and more info can be found at the Toronto Roller Derby website. Seating is limited, so it is recommended you bring a chair.

Some of the proposed teams attending (as reported in Blood and Thunder Magazine) the first ever International World Cup of Roller Derby include, England, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand, Sweden and USA, and of course Canada, the Host team.

Did you ever get CASH, $25.00 to open a bank account, well you can do it now with ING and they even pay you interest .. FLIP OVER for LINK - Check it out. 
Be sure to copy the NUMBERS on the key to get the $25 credit. ...

---------->>

Daniel … Toronto, CANADA
My take on everything

Hockey fans – National Hockey League (NHL) chatter about the playoffs.

Toronto, CANADA – We’re right into the semi-finals now and there is all kinds of “NHL chatter” about everything.
First off, it was just announced this weekend that the NHL has become involved in the “GreenMen” at Roger’s Arena (formerly GM Place) in Vancouver, where these jerks in green spandex suits sit in their season ticket seats next to the visitors penalty box with the full body spandex suits on (head to toe) and taunt the players while they touch, punch, kiss the glass during a penalty. The current opposition actually made a formal complaint.The NHL has contacted them and said they are “not allowed to touch the glass” any longer. I don’t like these guys either, but you cannot touch the glass in NHL arenas any longer? Does that just mean at the penalty box, or the glass anywhere in the stadium? What do you think?

The issue of linesmen throwing players out of the faceoffs, for no reason, has really got my goat. It has, and will continue and it could cost a team a win/loss in a very important playoff game. Has anyone ever seen a second player get thrown out of a faceoff after the regular centre has been thrown out?  Not likely, I haven’t either and I think the reason is the rules say (from what I know) that if it happens a second time, the referee will be forced to give the offending team a penalty? So which is worse, getting a penalty or being thrown out for no reason, and losing the game over such a stupid situation. It happened to Montreal Canadiens in the last round.

Another thing that is prevalent is the ongoing problem of the player changes at the benches, and it always becomes an issue during the playoffs. Last year there were over 20 penalties for too many players on the ice, and this year there has been penalties already.

I like the idea of Don Cherry of  Hockey Night in Canada (HNIC)  fame, that there should be a “change free zone”  just outside the players benches, where they are allowed a five foot zone to change freely, of course unless the extra player is touched by the puck.

And then of course we come to the age old question about the touch icing, and the possibility of a player being injured while they race down the ice to touch the puck first. The NHL did the right thing recently, by changing the rule that the players could NOT touch each other while they tried to touch the puck first, but why did they do that. Are they concerned that someone might get hurt? If that is their reasoning, why not just make it an instant whistle as soon as the puck crosses the goal line, a no-touch icing?
But then that would make sense, and keep everyone safe, but no, the NHL wants the excitement of two men racing down to the end boards to touch a puck.

Makes no sense to me, what about you?

Daniel … Toronto, CANADA
My take on everything

Review of Bell Fibe TV/internet service is nothing but problems, yet very cool, until you get setup.

UPDATE – May 5/2011 - Bell has been, and can be very arrogant, if you look at this flyer we received this week telling us the service is available in our building. And the fact that they say the service is good quality, “Best TV picture?” We are still experiencing problems six months later, although it is better than in the first week in November 2010, it is still pixillating, and sound-outs. To say “This technology is the BEST”  is really a stretch. When it’s working, is is excellent, but that has not been our experience.
One Bell techie told us “You can’t expect it to be 100%” but Bell expects us to PAY 100%?

UPDATE - November 29/2010
It's almost a month since I had Bell Fibe TV/internet installed and I must say I am very impressed by Bell Canada, and especially Ryan the techie who dropped by on Sunday and did a thorough and excellent job fixing my TV signal.
I have had some complaints and they have finally addressed them, however I am still annoyed with the sales practices of the in-lobby sales people. But with that put aside, after talking with the Bell Executive Team in Montreal (they called me) my pixillating and sound problems have been resolved. The picture quality is absolutely excellent, no pixallating (where the picture takes a burp,) or sound outs.

UPDATE December 12/2010 - Still getting the pixillating and sound outs but not as bad as it was when we first got it, they "say" they will resolve the problem?
My next question is, will this corrective measure be addressed to "everyone" that has problems? I hope so, and suspect it is in Bell's best interest to do so, and will people just give up and switch back after the first few weeks of pixillating picture.
On another happy note another service techie called and was able to fix the Bell anti-virus software that I was told was a "known issue and would not be resolved for a few months." The internet side was not a problem other that the anti-virus situation since it was excellent speed since the beginning.

UPDATE - November 11/2010 - The original date of this BLOG posting is documented as Monday, November 8/2010, at 10:25am and was first posted on my OPERA BLOG and then posted here earlier this week....
 

Have you had PROBLEMS since you signed up for the new Bell FibeTV (Internet Protocol television-IPTV) service which allows you to get TV through the internet? One of the first things someone does when they get an internet service provider (ISP) is to load, download, a virus protection software usually provided by the ISP.

Click READ MORE below to read on about Bell FibeTV/internet....

Driving in Toronto, can it be dangerous, costly, frustrating and just plain madness. Do we have enough enforcement?

Toronto, CANADA - An excellent article in the  Toronto Star   today prompted this blog, and writer  Ian Law   was concentrating on the four driving offences that "drive him crazy" and he could issue tickets (if they game him a title and a car) to drivers, under the Ontario Highway Traffic Act (HTA.)  He covers his worst, distracted drivers, running red lights,aggressive driving, and illegal turns.

These are all good points and although many residents would say "We have enough enforcement, too much,in fact" that is not the case. Recently the Province of Ontario added a new traffic law which makes using any hand held electronic devices illegal and subject to over $100 fine and points. This is mainly targeted at people texting and driving, or stopped at a traffic light, and are not using a hands free device. And since the start of this new law, about a year ago, has this eliminated the safety hazard? Not a chance, it's a wee bit smaller than in years past, but it still continues to this day, and I see people texting in backed up traffic all the time. If caught, I think a more realistic fine should be imposed since they are only catching about five percent, so let's make the fine $500 and see how the public reacts to that.
This texting and driving has been responsible for so many accidents since texting started, and now with everyone having a smart phone, and traffic snarls all over the city, people think they can do both. Studies have shown that someone texting and driving is very similar to the conditions of an impaired driver and in Ontario that is a criminal offence.

I just don't get it, people can't wait to answer their phones and for some reason are aware of the dangers, but continue to use their hand held devices while they try to manoeuvre through the heavy traffic of downtown Toronto, and I suspect other major cities across North America. It's getting so bad, it's not even safe in a wheelchair.

So what do you think? Are there other things that DRIVE YOU CRAZY about Toronto Drivers? Let's hear what you have to say.

If you need a good safe driving school, check this place out, it's Ian Law's school just north of Toronto.

(Car Control School - CLICK HERE)

People who liked this BLOG post, liked these, remember the women who walked into a fountain while texting check her video out.
Walked into water fountain while texting.
What's the rule for parking VALET giving keys to drunk drivers?
Can car companies eliminate the bar on the drivers side that blocks view when turning?



Daniel ... Toronto, CANADA
My take on everything




 
Did you ever get CASH, $25.00 to open a bank account, well you can do it now with ING and they even pay you interest, NO fees ever, yes I said NO FEES, go to my BLOGSPOT BLOG and look for the ING Dangling KEY logo and .. FLIP OVER for the LINK - Check it out. You are required to make a minimum deposit of $100, but where else can you make 25% interest in one transaction instantly. Huh?
Be sure to copy the NUMBERS on the key to get the $25 credit. ...

Favorite links about Toronto

• The Wall Photo Group-Join Join today - simple rules
  
• WordPress BLOGJust UPDATED
  
• BlogSpot/BloggerBlogSpot BLOG - My take on everything
  
• Toronto access pageEvents, movies and anything else happening in Toronto
  
• Sewers under the CityPics stories about sewers
  
• FamilyPhoto2000Family Photo 2000
  
• Toronto News 24 - excellent online news about TorontoOnline NEWS site about Toronto and the whole GTA area
  
• My first BLOG tumblrAll about Toronto, TUMBLR Blog
  
• blog.commy other BLOG - My take on everything
  
• AllVoicesNews/comment - citizen journalists
  
• Now PublicNews/comment - citizen journalists
  
• IPTV - Bell Fibe TV forumForum about Fibe TV
  
• TwitPicPictures - photos - comments
  
• My photo AlbumsPictures - photos - comments
  
• City of TorontoMunicipal Government site
  
• Libya EgyptMy take on "Middle East"
  
• All about dandmb50#dandmb50 on google 54,000 hits
  
• My Flickr pictures on flickriverFlikr pictures on flickriver portal, click picture to see full discription and scroll down to see more
  
• Flickr albumsSome of my favorites on Flickr
  
• Digital Journal - Online news around the worldOnline news - Toronto and the WORLD - great site
  
• On-line Radio ShowInteresting topics check it out
  

UPDATE – Casey Anthony Trial: George Anthony smell of death, ‘smell like that out in the woods’ evasive to defense cross examination

Orlando, Florida - Today the Casey Anthony murder trial entered day 15 although it is only the fourth day of the actual trial in Orlando, the other days were spent picking the jury. Casey Anthony is charged with murder of her two year old daughter in June 2008, and is facing the death penalty if found guilty.
Her father George A. Anthony  was called to the stand again today for the third time, and went into battle with his arch enemy, defense attorney Jose Baez, after Baez had made some hefty accusations during the opening statements alleging George had sexual relations with Casey when she was a child. He also stated that the defenses position was that Casey did not kill her daughter, Caylee, it was an accident as she drowned in the backyard swimming pool. Baez also alleged George had pulled Caylee’s dead body out of the pool, and scolded Casey for not watching her.

While Georges time on the stand was difficult for Baez, he kept trying to get him to answer questions about the smell of a dead body in his daughters car when he went to the towing yard to pick up his vehicle. The towing company had indicated they sent a notice to them about the car, but they never came to pick it up until about 10-11 days after it was sent. Baez didn’t let the smell in the car go away, he kept pounding at it and George kept evading the question.

He asked if he could smell “death” in the car and George would answer what he saw. He finally came to the point where he said “I had a smell like that outside in the woods, in the house, in a car, I mean it’s” and then a big frown on his face while Baez responded, “And this is six months before your granddaughter is found in the woods?”  And then the prosecution called an objection and they went to a sidebar.

To view the courtroom video yourself you can go to WFTV and view any parts of the trial. WFTV is covering the trial LIVE  online.

The trial starts again Tuesday, May 31/2011 9AM (EST)

Daniel … Toronto, CANADA

My take on everything
@dandmb50

To go to my FULL BlogSpot BLOG CLICK HERE or click the Header .. Daniel .. Toronto, CANADA  at the top of each page.