Canadian Lyndsay

Manitoba is getting a new area code!

by on Apr.14, 2010, under News

Update: The dates are confirmed.  Ten-digit dialing becomes mandatory on October 20, 2012 with the new area code being introduced on November 3, 2012.

I read on the Winnipeg Free Press tonight that Winnipeg will be getting a new area code in 2012 – Manitoba’s new area code: 431.

This also means that at that time, we’ll follow the leads of areas Ontario, Alberta and BC that will have to start 10-digit dialing.

Here are some tidbits about the tentative implementation plan from the Free Press Article:

  • A second area code will come into place between May and October or November of 2012.
  • The new area code will be 431.
  • Telephone subscribers will have to dial the appropriate area code and the existing seven-digit number to make a local call.
  • The first 431 numbers will likely be assigned in early 2013 to new cell phone customers.
  • New landline customers will get their numbers with the 431 area code in late May 2013.
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Car/Dog Wash

by on Apr.09, 2010, under Ramblings

I’m currently visiting my parents in St. Catharines, Ontario. Last night as I stopped for a Tim Hortons tea, I noticed something interested at the nearby car wash.

It also had a stall for a dog wash.

Now I didn’t spend a lot of time looking at this… but questions that later came up included – do they reduce the water pressure in that stall? Certainly you wouldn’t use full water pressure as is normally seen at a car wash on a dog.

So I say, awesome idea! Very cool, never seen it before but I hope I see it again.

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Bicycle Shop in a Basement?

by on Apr.07, 2010, under Ramblings

I’ve been making an effort to spend more time outside, so I’ve been taking a few breaks throughout the day to just stand outside and take in all the action of Winnipeg’s Exchange District.

I noticed a lot of people taking their bicycles into a building across the street (all the buildings are about 100 years old around here, so definitely no elevators) and didn’t think much of it – I figured they live in the building in the apartments above the storefronts.

Actually, turns out there’s a bicycle shop in there. In the basement.

Why on earth would a bicycle shop be in a place with a whole flight of stairs? Plus the stair going up to the main entrance. Most people don’t seem to have a problem, but I noticed a woman yesterday struggling to get up the front stoop – not sure how she managed to get it down the stairs, and then up again. Weird. But, lots of traffic going in and out so they must do well.

I sure love the people watching around here! Always something interesting.

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TV Shows and ER Waiting Rooms

by on Mar.30, 2010, under Ramblings

In the past six months, twice I’ve had to spend some time in emergency room waiting rooms. There was an identical, although probably coincidental, occurrence. Both times, CSI was playing on the TV.

Now, I enjoy watching CSI now and then. But I find them to be the most graphic of all the crime shows. And so I ask you…

Why on earth would an ER play violent, depressing TV shows?

I get that it’s not intentional. But why not try to keep the TV tuned to something a bit more uplifting, like a sitcom or something. Both occurrences I mentioned resulted in people being upset and uncomfortable and in one case someone actually got up and shut the TV off.

You’d think a hospital could consult a psychologist about ways to keep people calm and patient in a waiting room – where people are usually neither calm OR patient!

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Great customer service at Keystone Ford

by on Mar.14, 2010, under Ramblings

I have very high standards of customer service. Having spent many years in the industry myself, I know what I’m capable of and I expect the same of others. More often than not, I end up frustrated and disappointed. But not this past Saturday.

There was some noise coming from the suspension of my Mustang, so I took it in to Keystone Ford in Winnipeg, where I bought it from. As I was waiting in the lounge for the shuttle to take me home, my salesman (John Scott) walked past and stopped to chat with me.  He knew all the details of what I had bought and the circumstances around it, like why I love Mustangs, the fact it wasn’t my first, etc.  Now, he may have seen me, recognized me and looked up some details – but I like to think he remembered me just enough to go to that effort.

At any rate, it was a small thing that went a long way. Kudos, a 2 minute conversation resulted in my probably coming back to him in the future when I need a new car.

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