Viral from that other company

Curb your enthusiasm... in pill form?

Feel good about yourself and all that

This seems to have flown under the radar a little, but that doyenne of the green movement, Mobil, has brought biofuels to Wellington. Yay.

Back in June Mobil began trialling the fuel at its Johnsonville station and a couple of weeks ago it arrived at the Karori station and 'two others' - which I assume means the Kilbirnie one and a Hutt one.

The 98 or super has up to 10% biofuels and the 91 has up to 3% - but anyway its a good start.

Wii Fit Update 2

Well its been three weeks now so I thought I would provide an update on how the Wii Fit is going.

Today provided the perfect opportunity for an independent opinion, as our office personal trainer, Mish, came in for her regular 'weigh in'.

So here we go, after three whole weeks and 12 hours of playing - I have lost 4.5 kilos and 3 BMI points. Pretty good, pretty, pretty, pretty good. Mish is back in another 3 weeks - will update then.

A case of the Monday's

Here's another for the "never again" file. Last night I had Nando's for dinner... while I'll spare you the details, it's fair to say I've been up since 2.30am doing my interpretation of this Sony TV ad.

So yeah I'm having a case of the Monday's



UPDATE: I just did a Wii Fit Body Test - I've lost 1.4kg in the last 24 hours! Woot! So you know - every cloud and all that.

Wii Fit Update

Well I've now clocked up over 3 hours on the Wii Fit and its still kicking ass. I have achieved Champion (probably of the world) status on Football heading (top score of 454) and Ski Slalom (29 seconds on the downhill run). Oh yeah.

As you go along you open up more games, yoga poses and activities - which are basically new ways for you to look ridiculous. Snowboarding is clearly some sort of astrophysical science as I managed to cock up almost every go at it. It is kinda cool turning the board length ways though... look like a tool though.

I've unlocked the boxing aerobic game also, which is a hell of a lot of fun once you get going. The yoga is kicking ass - my Sun Salutation rules, as does my Warrior pose - the Tree pose is bollocks though!

While I'm the Wii though - this was a bit unfortunate - it really should note that the measurements it takes are for adults. But please - "she could have ended up with an eating disorder" - so she didnt? Get a grip, surely she could see that its measurement was a bit off? Lighten up and have some fun.

Pain

What was I thinking? I shocked a few people when I bought the Wii roughly a year ago and shocked myself when I completed.. sorry I think the correct lingo is 'clocked' Lego Star Wars. But it still something of a stretch for me to grasp why I bought Wii Fit

Ok im being a little melodramatic - its not that bad - in fact its pretty good fun, but I am feeling it in my legs especially.

You look like a prick doing the stuff - more so than Wii Sports, but you also feel like you're getting a work out. You stand on a pad thing which measures your BMI and weight etc (you're out of your mind if you think I'm going there) - and it monitors your balance during the exercises and games. Useful bit of humiliation though - once its done your BMI it changes your Mii character so it reflects your (ok my) tubby bitch frame - yeah I kinda know what the situation is already, I'm not sure I need a cartoon to reinforce it.

There are four types of exercises - strength training, Yoga, balance games (ski slalom etc) and aerobics. Most of the aerobic stuff seemed a bit rubbish - like jogging with the Wii-mote in your hand - but the Hoola Hoop was great fun (ranks highly on the makes you look like a tool scale). Ski Jump and Ski Slalom are great - you have to get your balance right and then either rise from a squat position to a full (balanced) extension on the jump or shift your weight from side to side to move through the slalom course.

So anyway I guess I'll give it a whirl and see how we get on - but so far it does seem to have stuck a good balance between fun/games and getting a work out of it.

Twangers and Tack

You would not believe how badly I want/need a Jenna Bush commemorative wedding mug - I already have the Charles and Diana plate and Charles and Camilla beer mug, so I think a Jenna Bush mug would just top it off.

John Fothergill had a good line about Bush at the comedy show I went to a week or so back - "I thought George Bush was something that got caught between Zippy's teeth" and of course the Rainbow reference creates a perfect opportunity to share the infamous video of that episode.

Poo nirvana

I didn't mention just how average our work toilets were when I talked about the 'other' bin. They clearly haven't had a lot done to them (other than the installation of redundant bins obviously) since the building was opened sometime in the mid or late 70s.

But what was worse was that I was under the impression that there wasn't a gents on our floor - and walked down two flights of stairs every time I wanted a waz. Turns out I was misled by our team PA.

Not only do we have a gents on our floor, but it's comparatively like some sort of nirvana. It's clean, the doors on the stalls actually stay shut, there's a shower, two ply paper, no 'other' bin and to top it off - Dove soap.

Although I'm fairly sure that I was once told that Dove test on animals - but hey I'm sure the track record of who ever the industrial chemical provider is on the floors below isn't that crash hot!

Don't shop at Noel Leemings

Below is the text of my complaint email I sent off yesterday to Noel Leemings Head Office, and which I cc'd to Erin Brockovich. (she is currently front NL's campaign telling everyone how they are 'the real deal' and act with such wonderful 'corporate responsibility')

Full credit to Brockovich also - she actually replied - and not just a generic reply - she said she would take it up with NL. Noel Leemings have not replied.

To whom it may concern at the Noel Leemings Group NZ Ltd,

I wish to register a complaint regarding the after-sales service provided by Noel Leemings.

Around two years ago I bought a Sony Vaio lap-top computer from Noel Leemings in Wellington - and till a couple of months back - it worked fine.

However, it recently lost power and stopped working. So I took it in to your 'Technology' branch in Wellington for repair. It was outside its warranty period, so I expected a cost would be involved.

After a month or so, it was returned to me 'fixed' and I paid out around NZ$300. But, a month and a half later the same thing happened again - so I took it in, again. I was told that "If it was the same problem, it would be fixed under a three-month service warranty". I said 'great', to which your staff member replied "hehe but they normally find something else wrong and charge you for that, hehe." Naturally, to which, I raised my eyebrows. He then said - Oh only joking I'm sure they're really honest - in a slightly sarcastic tone. I dismissed this assuming he was joking.

Turns out he wasn't. I received a call yesterday telling me that it would cost an additional NZ$400 to have it repaired - as it was, you guessed it - "a different issue". I said well I'm not throwing 'good money after bad' I would sooner buy a new one. And now - just to get the thing back I have to pay what is essentially a NZ$95 ransom/service fee!

My complaint - is that I paid NZ$300 for a repair - that did not work. Now Noel Leemings want another NZ$400 to fix what is essentially the same problem - or NZ$95 just to get my unfixed computer back. Either way I am going to be at least $395 (or at worst NZ$700!) out of pocket with a computer that does not work!

For a company that has just launched a series of TV adverts endorsing their 'good corporate practices' and "doing the right thing" by customers - personally, I think this is shameful customer service.

Over the years I have spent literally thousands of dollars at Noel Leemings and Bond & Bond stores on TVs, stereos, white ware - fridges, washing machines etc, 2 computers and all sorts of other stuff. And yet when I actually tried to get some sort of reasonable standard of after sales service - I basically got shafted.

By contrast, a friend of mine had trouble with his Apple iBook - not only did the Apple outlet, Magnum-Mac, actually fix the problem, they also lent him a laptop for two weeks while his machine was being repaired. That is 'the real deal' - that is what I consider good customer service.

I intend to raise this with your store manager at Noel Leemings Technology - fully realising that it is likely to be a futile act (much like this email). But I want it known that I do not take being ripped off lightly - especially by a company that preaches that it does the right thing by customers, and is 'the real deal'.

Regards

Im waiting for them to call to say its ready for me to pick up (and pay their ransom). It will be all on like donkey kong that day.

iWant an iPad

I spotted this in the latest Urbis - Auckland architect Andre Hodgskin has developed the iPad - a flat-pack kitset bach.

They retail from NZD125 000 and are delivered to your section ready to be assembled.

You can get them in one or two bedroom or one bedroom plus guesthouse (lay out pictured).

They are made to be a bach or second home - but I wouldnt mind one as my main home! I just love the simplicity of them and their temporary nature (you can pack them up and put them on another section.... in saying 'you can' I really mean you can get people to do it!).

They remind me of that rather odd looking townhouse development down Boulcott St - the one built on stilts above a carpark. Now that is actually the site for the 20-plus-storey Willis Tower, and while the developer gets the dosh together he had those townhouses put above the carpark to optimise the space in the interim. The townhouses will be moved to a permanent home later and sold off to make way for the development.

Anyway, I need to go and find a section (and a couple of hundred grand) for an iPad.

More information on the iPad here

Murder House

I went to the dentist for my annual check up yesterday. Passed with flying colours naturally... the dentist noted that I have "very, very good teeth" hell yeah!

So while on this high I caved in to the pressure to go to the "Dental Hygenist" as well. What a rock solid waste of time (and money!) that was.

If you are unfamiliar with the role of the Dental Hygenist, they basically do the work that dentists once did with the orbital sander/polisher hoobly device etc etc. But clearly they are also in the pocket of Colgate and other such multinationals! Throughout the whole experience she tried pushing their products on me - you should try COLGATE mouthwash (apparently Listerine isnt as good as "COLGATE brand"), and COLGATE electric toothbrushes and COLGATE floss.

She didnt seem to get my joke when I asked if she was getting kick-backs from Colgate - so maybe this means she is??

What really made me laugh though, is that she did nothing other than what dentists used to do to your teeth before they created this position. Which made me think, did the Dental Hygenist role come about during the Nat Govts 1990s work-for-the-dole scheme? Was this just a 'make-work' exercise?

Whatever the background is to this role - I should write MUG on my forehead. Afterall it was me who shelled out $65 to be told after a barely five minute consultation that my teeth were "very, very good" and then paid out another $150 to the Hygenist for her Colgate sales pitch.

So a word of advice - Next time your dentist suggests a visit to the Dental Hygentist, say thanks, but no thanks and just pick up the Colgate brochure instead.

Sun protection without looking silly

Granted, creams, lotions and cosmetics arent a common topic here, but this is possibly the greatest innovation since the roll-on. Just go with me on it...

The shiney nature of sunscreen has always been one of my many annoyances - you want to cover up and avoid sunburn, but do you really need to look like you just completed an ironman?

Well no longer! Yesterday one of my colleagues (who had clearly heard my rant on this topic) forwarded me the good news.

Neutrogena have released a 'matte' finish sunscreen, and you can get it at the supermarket. Oh happy day - no more shiney greasy summers.

Bask in the glorious emancipation from shiney summer skin!

Read all about it here