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happiness is…

my friends and coworkers at icbc sent me off with everything i need to get my garden going.  i could not have asked for a better gift or a more fantastic group of people to work with.  thank you so very much!

my dog max and the garden tools from my coworkers at icbc

happiness is...

 

more bad business…annacis lock-up

what a drag it is selling and staging a home.  following our realtors recommendation we “staged” our home to make it more appealing to those without vision.  this necessitated storing items…a cost you should be wary of.  after looking around we found what we thought was the best rate in the neighbourhood of new westminster.  annacis lock-up was our choice and the people were great…if a little chatty.  the rates we’re reasonable and the facility very good.  renting space and having to add more space was not a problem.  ending the relationship was something else.  in the busy time of moving and so forth we missed the required deadline of 2 weeks notice and provided only 8 days notice.  this will cost us another months rental!  greed is the only motivation as we never found them short of space.  in fact they likely have several vacancies as i write.  i had recommended them to many friends and acquaintances if they should ever need storage…something i now regret.  we do not recommend annicis lock-up because of their usurious penalties and lack of common compassion.

bad business…bcaa

we’ve been customers with bcaa for about 20 years…though it matters little to them.  we purchased  a home and out of loyalty to them bought our home insurance through them.  when we sold, we expected to continue with them as we have always been treated well and fairly.  how times change!  our home sold quickly, well before our new home would be ready…the fees for insuring our stored possession, virtually everything we owned along with coverage of our few possession while living in our temporary accommodation at a hotel in vancouver were essentially usury.  we tried to figure out why but the agent had a poor command of english and did not offer any satisfactory explanation for the extremely high rate.  now that our house is nearly ready we asked for a change to our policy back to home coverage.  wow!  what an outrageous amount.  we found a policy almost $400 less with equal or better coverage.  when we cancelled they charged us an additional $180 for cancellation.  this even though we had told them we were in a transition period prior to signing on.  so much for their public goodwill persona. we do not recommend bcaa for home insurance.

customer experience u-haul

u-haul canada could use some lessons from their counterpart in the usa.  a number of recent events has me convinced the canadian franchises have a long way to go before the consumer in canada walks out feeling the same as they do in the states.  my experience  at the whalley store left me feeling as if i was some miscreant who just crawled in off the street. trying to book a reservations for a tow bar install at the marine drive branch and the coquitlam franchise left me with the impression that they didn’t need the business as it took more than 3 days to get a call back and then a last minute opening.  i ended up ordering online for delivery in the washington, then taking the parts to bellingham where i was treated like a super star by every staff person i dealt with young and old alike.  thanks to the guys at U-Haul Moving & Storage of Bellingham, 4549 Meridian St. Bellingham, WA 98226

Anso Machining Centre Ltd

Anso Machining Centre Ltd
61 Duncan St, New Westminster, BC V3M 5G3‎ – (604) 525-7321

Cool machine shop circa 1940′s or older. The machinist is cool too. He’s a real craftsman, taking his time and doing it right. I was so impressed that he found the time to do a small job for me and treated it as though it was a fine piece of precision machinery (6 holes in an alluminium bar). He knows the history of the area and had some great stories about Queensborough and Poplar Island which is just out my window, in the middle of the north arm of the Fraser.

max has arrived

Max the wonder puppybagged outmaxattackyesrickyofficialcuteshotferocious
meandmyshadowpickmeupbeardogwhatnextbestpillowevermax14jun
max1haircutmax 2 weeks oldfraser moods 040fraser moods 039fraser moods 034fraser moods 033
fraser moods 030fraser moods 026fraser moods 025fraser moods 021fraser moods 020fraser moods 018

not to bore everyone, however my new puppy is the epitome of cuteness. i’m trying to limit my picture taking to a reasonable level. as he just arrived, i feel i’m allowed to indulge a little. hope you enjoy.

dad day!

i have a remarkable son who, in the simplest ways, makes any occasion special. he’s often late, but never forgetful, gifts are not expected or given…except at christmas and those are sometimes a year in between (he left it on the mantle as he dashed out the door, we got it the next christmas – now it’s a great memory and i’ve always got the books). the father’s day call came while i was out, the message was short, he was off to his weekend job. happily i caught up with him and spent some time covering this and that, nothing too important just sharing time. he always says i love you, and i always believe him. he’s the greatest. my father’s day was all i hoped for. thanks son!

madrone woodwork inc.

recommendation! were in the process of fixing up our kitchen and needed some adjustment done to a couple of kitchen cabinets. sure that it would get done i told my partner not to worry, i’d find someone. lo and behold luck/fate was on my side. after calling a couple of other woodwork operation i landed on madrone woodwork inc. via google maps.
the guy at the other end was super friendly, assured me they could get the job done in time for the delivery of appliances. off goes my partner the next morning, comes home and says they were great, friendly professional and firm with the price quoted to me. our cupboards were ready the next day. nice job, nice price, nice people. my partner says they were super nice to deal with. give em a try, they do all sorts of fine woodwork or low end like our entry level cabinets. woodworking burnaby b.c.

new westminster – car dependent city

What a nice town…too bad they have depended heavily on surrounding suburbs for much of their retail needs. This has created one of the most car dependent neighbourhoods I’ve seen in a long time.

An incredible old town / downtown full of wedding shops and bric-a-brac. To do any real shopping you must go uptown or to a mall outside of the town limits.

our house!

yes! we decorate soon.