"What exactly is it that you DO, anyway?"

Yes, I get that question all the time. So- I thought I'd share with everyone out there in cyberspace what my job is, and what it entails.

For all intents and purposes, I am the "Call before you dig" guy....
The technical term for my job is "Damage Prevention Technician"
You know when you're walking down a street, and you see orange/yellow/pink paint on the curbs, sidewalks, etc? Well, that's an indication as to where the underground utility lines are located.

Here's how it breaks down:
1- You (a homeowner, or contractor) wants to do some digging (be it for a fence, some gardening, or something as big as road reconstruction/water/sewers, etc)
2- (Up here in Canada, anyway) it's the LAW to "call before you dig", because well, you *really* wouldn't wanna hit a gas line, would you? Or maybe knock out the main telephone lines for your street? Didn't think so.
3- You call this 1-800 number, they take all the info, and in turn, dispatch us to locate the gas and telephone plant for the providers in that region.
4- I spray paint your lawn, road, and stick flags in the ground that often disappear 10 minutes after being placed.

There you go- that's pretty much it.

Perks to my job-

-I work from my home; no office to report to.
- All the locate requests get emailed to me
-My company puts me in a new 2007 Jeep Compass to drive around to said locate uh, locations...
-NO boss breathing down my neck all day
-I'm outside. Like, 10 hours a day, and I love it.

The downside-

-Middle of July, it gets VERY hot and INCREDIBLY humid; very hard to work in, much less breathe....the workload is overwhelming sometimes. You have to able to juggle all your work, and not fall behind, keep contractors happy, etc.
-Middle of January.....you guessed it- lotsa snow, and cold. (Cold I can handle, I HATE snow)...and the workload is almost non-existant.

So there you have it. That's what I do. Not a typical job for a self-professed comicbook geek, is it? haha

Old Man Winter is a stupid f**ktard

*sigh*

Happy Good Friday, indeed.
I wake up this morning to see that it looks like "The Day After Tomorrow" out there.
Like, a good 20cm (and still falling as I write this) is what I'm looking at.

For those that don't know, I work outside all day. My workload is basically dependant on good weather. It was *just* starting to pick up, when THIS happens.
This past winter was incredibly tough- almost no work, no money coming in, the wife and I BARELY scraping by.

I cannot even begin to tell you how much I detest winter.
Everyone else: "Yeah, but you live in Canada, deal with it!!"
Me: "I'd move to a warmer, snow free climate in a nanosecond"

Alright- that's my rant- I had to vent.

Happy Good Friday, Happy Easter.
*eats Chocolate Jesus*

Frank and Boo, wherefore art thou?

Ah yes- time to wax nostalgic, and to educate all you fine folks out there about a so-called "crusade" of mine that I've been working on for the last 9 years or so.

The year is 1985. I am 12 years old, and as luck would have it (or lack of luck), it would be the last time that I, and MILLIONS of Canadians would ever taste the strawberry-flavoured goodness of the General Mills cereal known as FrankenBerry. (And his counterpart, Boo Berry).

............bummer.

Flash forward to 1998. While messing around with this really cool thing called the internet, I happenupon a webpage devoted to Franken Berry. Man, I couldn't believe it. Instantly, I was transported to 1985 again, with the taste of that long-forgotten cereal FRESH in my mind. I was 12 again, and I was looking at pictures of old boxes, and then was stunned to see that it was only available in the United States, and NOT Canada.

What.
The.
F**k?

So, after a bit of sleuthing, I find the phone number for General Mills in the States, get a hold of someone, and before I could even get my whole question out, they tell me that I have to get a hold of the CANADIAN offices of General Mills.

A second phone call is placed. After what seemed like an eternity, I was talking with a live person about the frightening lack of Frank and Boo up here on Canadian grocery shelves. Apparantly- the reason that F & B were taken off in the first place was poor sales. And now being the health-concious world that we are, F & B do NOT "meet the stringent nutritional guidelines" set out by the Canadian Food Administration.

.......bummer.

That was in 1998.

Nowadays, all the GM cereals are 100% whole grain, fibre, etc. They are CONSIDERABLY healthier than they once were. So- I tried again- pleading my case to Canadian General Mills folks.
The response I got this time was that there quite frankly wasn't any demand for those two cereals up here. I was flabbergasted (great word, BTW).
If demand *was* high enough, GM (the food people, not the car makers) would "consider" bringing F & B BACK onto Canadian shelves.

This, my friends--is where YOU come in.

It is time to speak up, and DEMAND that these quality cereals from your childhood be a part of your lives once again. And I.....am gonna help you attain that goal.

I have enclosed some sites and numbers for you to contact, and request the strawberry and blueberry flavoured goodness that was once a part of your life.

Here's a contact page that goes DIRECTLY to General Mills Canada:http://consumercontacts.generalmills.com/ConsolidatedContact.aspx?page=http://www.doughboy.ca

If your so inclined (and can afford the ridiculous shipping charges and exchange rate) you can order some online from amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Frankenberry-10-25-Ounce-Boxes-Pack-6/dp/B000FIDLE4

Quite possibly, the best Boo Berry page on the net, check 'em out:http://www.i-mockery.com/booberry/main.htm

Alright, my children- you have your mission. Go. Make some NOISE!!!