When we moved into our rural home over 5 years ago, there wasn’t much choice concerning the Internet. It was either slow dial up over bad quality country phone lines or expensive line-of-sight wireless (microwave) Internet by either Storm or RipNet (out of Brockville, ON).

We got both Storm and RipNet in to do a sight survey, and Storm wanted $1200 to put up a tower, while Ripnet wanted just some $200 for a small tripod to put on top of the roof. Naturally, we went with Ripnet in August 2005. In order to minizime the cost to us, we signed up on a three year contract so we would not have to pay any installation charges. The fee for Internet access was $40/month plus $20 for equipment rental. For this we got 3 Mb/s, which was very fast back then.

Over the years, new technologies came and went until this spring Bell came out with the Turbo Stick, a cellular based internet service that promises “up to” 21 Mb/s. Being well past our first three years into Ripnet, thinking I was on some sort of a month-to-month thing with them, I signed up with Bell on the condition we could get reception at home.

I installed everything at home, and what do you know, we got “excellent reception” and 12 Mb/s, which was about 5 times faster than what we got with Ripnet. After a full two weeks of testing, Bell was up 100% of the time, versus Ripnet which always seem to have problems (especially on Saturday and Sunday mornings, much to the chagrin of my wife). Plus, Bell’s service was only $39.95/month with no access fees or equipment charges. It seemed to be a no brainer.

I contacted Ripnet to tell them I was going to cancel. A few days later I got an email back saying I was in the middle of a contract and if I wanted to get out of it I would have to pay 50% of the remaining value, plus a $90 “retrieval fee” for the equipment.

I wrote them back saying they were wrong and that my contract expired a few years back.

They replied by sending me a PDF of the contract I signed five years ago, and pointed to the following section:

1.2 Term: The term of this Agreement(”Term”) commences as of the date of installation of the Hardware and terminates, subject to renewal and early termination, on the last day of the time frame selected by you under Residential Service Plans in 1.1, above. Either party may give at least thirty (30) days’ advance written notice of its intention to terminate this Agreement as of the last day of the Term. Otherwise, this Agreement shall automatically renew for a successive term of identical time period on the same terms and conditions as set forth in this Agreemen, subject to reasonable changes in the fee schedule charged by Supplier to remain current with Supplier’s then applicable rates. Supplier will provide reasonable notice to Customer of changes in rates prior to each renewal of the Agreement.

So, without my knowledge (and who ever reads these contracts??) they had automatically renewed my contract by another three year term, and I was now two years into it, unable to cancel it.

Now, I realise this agreement is perfectly legal. And legal council tells me it is quite normal for such a contract to be signed between bigger corporations, although not usually between a corporation and the public. So, it is legal, but it is not a very nice way to treat your “valued customers” (as we are called on the Ripnet website). A courtesy mailing or call just before the automatic renewal comes up would have been a nice touch. Maybe even offer an opt-out like many other companies are doing now.

Anyway, I pointed out to them their precious contract didn’t say ANYTHING about $90 “retrieval fee” so I demanded they take that off the bill. Begrugingly, they did.

So, now I owe them about $250 plus tax. I am saving about $40/month with the cheaper service now, so in the end I’ll gain, but I am not very happy to let Ripnet get away with treating their “valued customers” like they are faceless money machines.

I am told I can send them a check marked “under protest” and take it up with small claims court over the fact that it is not very clear that the term gets automatically renewed.

Still deciding on that one.

… it better not be David Suzuki.

He is BC’s pride…

Ontario’s summer, so far, has been so cold and damp that it is now very hospitable to Heracleum mantegazzianum, also known as the Giant Hogweed, which is native to Russia, and thrived in the early 1970s in (also) damp and cold Britain. Ontario’s summer has been so cold and wet that it closely resembles Britain’s, and as such, the Giant Hogweed is quickly spreading.

The Giant Hogweed is a plant that can grow up to 7 meters tall, and it’s 3 cm thick stems have a clear liquid that, combined with sunlight, can make your skin boil. It was introduced to Britain by a victorian explorer, planted in the Royal Gardens at Kew, and quickly took over the countryside, prompting my favourite band Genesis to write a song about it:

The Return of the Giant Hogweed

Turn and run!
Nothing can stop them,
Around every river and canal their power is growing.
Stamp them out!
We must destroy them,
They infiltrate each city with their thick dark warning odour.

They are invincible,
They seem immune to all our herbicidal battering.

Long ago in the russian hills,
A victorian explorer found the regal hogweed by a marsh,
He captured it and brought it home.
Botanical creature stirs, seeking revenge.
Royal beast did not forget.
He came home to london,
And made a present of the hogweed to the royal gardens at kew.

Waste no time!
They are approaching.
Hurry now, we must protect ourselves and find some shelter
Strike by night!
They are defenceless.
They all need the sun to photosensitize their venom.

Still theyre invincible,
Still theyre immune to all our herbicidal battering.

Fashionable country gentlemen had some cultivated wild gardens,
In which they innocently planted the giant hogweed throughout the land.
Botanical creature stirs, seeking revenge.
Royal beast did not forget.
Soon they escaped, spreading their seed,
Preparing for an onslaught, threatening the human race.

The dance of the giant hogweed

Mighty hogweed is avenged.
Human bodies soon will know our anger.
Kill them with your hogweed hairs
Heracleum mantegazziani

Giant hogweed lives

So where’s this Global Warming everybody keeps talking about?

PS. The recommended way of getting rid of the Giant Hogweed: Round-Up, which, thanks to a certain Mr. McGuinty, is no longer available in Ontario. Good job!

When KISS comes to town, you gotta go. You just have to: it’s the greatest rock show on Earth. You’re not going for the fine musicianship, you’re not going to hear the crystal clear soprano-like voices. You’re going to watch an extravaganza. And when it comes to putting on a good show, KISS is second to none. No other band comes even close to giving you your money’s worth of sheer entertainment.

Their music may not be appealing to most people, and the make-up and costumes may put a lot of people off, but when they take the stage and play their hearts out for a solid 2 1/2 hours, together with explosions, pyrotechnics, lighting and confetti, it somehow all comes together and it works. This IS the greatest show on Earth.

They played mostly KISS Alive! era songs, circa 1975 and earlier, replaying the entire album, minus Rock Bottom and Firehouse. Only the encore had some later songs such as (the appalling) Lick it Up and (yawn) I Was Made For Loving You. It’s hard to believe that, apart from the slightly tamer explosions and fireworks, which are, no doubt, due to the Ottawa Bylaw officers keeping a close eye on things, that these guys are closing in on 60 (Gene’s turning sixty later this year, Paul is 57) and the show looks and feels just like the 1975 version, when the lads were in their late twenties.

A record 30,000 40,000 people came to see KISS at the Ottawa Blues Fest last night. A few showers didn’t dampen our spirits. In true Ottawa fashion, we all came, walking calmly from the bus station about 1 hour before the show, and left immediately after, in the same calm fashion, back to the buses. I was sitting in a bus, less than 1/2 hour after the show. Bravo OC-Transpo!

Got a headache, ears are ringing. feet are tired, knees are killing me:  I’ve been to a KISS show.

The facts are these: this quirky show has been on the air for one year, three months, twenty days, six hours. It has won 3 Emmy’s and it has been nominated for twelve, and ABC found the Neilson ratings too low and cancelled it this week.

In case you don’t know, Pushing Daisies is a comedy unlike any other: it’s new, fresh and quirky. It looks almost cartoonish in production and the humour is great as well. The premise is this: Ned, a pie-maker gifted with the mysterious ability to bring dead things back to life by touching them. However, Ned quickly learns that if something is revived for more than exactly one minute, something of similar “life value” in the vicinity drops dead, as a form of balance. Additionally, if he touches the revived person or thing a second time, it falls dead again, this time permanently. He uses this ability to revive murdered people, ask them who killed them, and then put them back, using the information to cash in on rewards for solving their murders.

Pushing Daisies plays on ABC on Wednesday Nights, in Canada in plays on CTV on Tuesdays at 8 and Wednesdays at 8.

In a TV world where every “reality” stupidity show stays on the air for season after season (think: Big Brother, So You Think You Can Dance?, The Bachelor), my favourite show has been cancelled after a season and a half. It’s a real shame.

For more info on Pushing Daisies:

The ABC website

Wikipedia

Next Survivor is to be filmed in China. What, they are going to make all the candidates pactise Falum Gong in public, and then we’ll get to see who will survive? Or maybe they’ll send them grocery shopping and show them the shortcut through Tiananmen Square. How about converting them all to Buddhists and have them visit the Dalai Lama for tea and scones? Surviving in China, that should be fun.