Ex-buzzers wreak havoc 
The work blog
Category
Crack reporting
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Oct 05, 2008Powerless
Permalink | No comments | by ArnabJuly 14, 2008 - I was busy sitting at my desk in my office tower when the reports started trickling in. Many parts of Vancouver's downtown core were going dark. I quickly saved my work on my computer so that I would not lose it and checked the regional power provider's website to see the extent of the electrical outage. BC Hydro was reporting that almost the entire business district had been affected. My building was located in the eye of the hurricane. Panic engulfed the businesses of the city with their near absolute reliance on electricity. All around me buildings were ...
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Jun 30, 2008Bridges That Unite
Permalink | No comments | by ArnabAccompanied by an Ismaili friend of mine, I ventured to the Roundhouse Community Centre in Vancouver's Yaletown district to take a look at the Bridges That Unite exhibit that was on display for a limited time only. After being greeted by an usher, volunteers led us through each stage of the exhibit and explained the work of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) and what Canada has to offer to the world at large. AKDN is a non-denominational organization that restores sites of cultural significance, provides educational opportunities for people in rural areas, ...
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Feb 19, 2008Staffing Agencies Don’t Give You Staph
Permalink | 3 Comments | by ThomThose that are in the know know that I'm not working per se. I'm working on other aspects of my life, but yeah, I'm not working. I've done the traditional job search song and dance: job boards, cold calls, company websites, etc. One avenue I hadn't explored were staffing agencies. Essentially, from what I've gathered, which could be totally wrong, staffing agencies provide a service to their corporate clients in one of two ways or a combination of the two: 1) Staffing agencies provide their clients with temporary employees (temps) to fulfill a client's need such as, uh...bitch work. These temps ...
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Sep 15, 2007Some people at TransLink care
Permalink | 6 Comments | by PeterIf I'm going to take the time to point out frustrations with bad business practices, I should also take the time to recognize good business practices. Regarding my frustration with the new parking machines at Scott Road Station, I fired off e-mails to the general "Customer Feedback" e-mail addresses at TransLink and Impark. I also found Ken Hardie's e-mail address (he's a TransLink spokesperson) and wrote him a message (Lesson #1 -- often, general e-mail addresses are useless). That same day, Ken wrote back with a short message ...
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Sep 13, 2007Poor planning: Scott Road SkyTrain Park & Ride new machines
Permalink | 2 Comments | by PeterWhen September hit, TransLink increased the park & ride fee from $1 daily to $2, and the 28-day pass from $15 to $40. With this also came some new pay parking machines. Problems: The new machines take 30 seconds to 1 minute to authorize credit card payments, as opposed to less than 5 seconds on the old machines. This increases wait times. The 28-day pass is not worth it anymore for anybody who parks during the work week -- it is equivalent to the cost of parking there Monday to Friday for 28 days ($2 * 20 = $40). Therefore, if you don't ...
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Aug 13, 2007SFU puts its logo on a clock that doesn’t work
Permalink | 3 Comments | by PeterAugust 14th update: the clock has been fixed! This is a good contribution to downtown Vancouver :D Two weeks ago, I saw some workers fixing the clock outside of SFU's Segal Centre (housing its MBA programs). I was excited to see that it was finally going to display the correct time (it's been displaying the same time ever since I began working downtown almost one year ago)! They put the exciting new SFU logo and the words "Simon Fraser University" on the clock, so it looks nice. Unfortunately, it ...
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Aug 06, 2007Incentivise, not incense-ivise
Permalink | 2 Comments | by ParryManagement ain't rocket science... yet so many managers are clearly not rocket scientists. When bringing on board new sales staff, ask yourself: - will the new position/commission cut into earnings of existing staff? - is the market adequately buoyant to require another salesperson? - is the reason for new staff b/c current sales time is wasted on rudimentary lead gen? Managers worry about "the business as a whole;" salespeople (and employees) worry about their role in the business... and even more so (perhaps self-servedly, but fair enough) their salaries. See the incongruity? Sadly, not all do. Rrrrrrrrrooooooooooooooooxxxxxxxxxxaaaaaannnnnnneeeeeeee, you don't have to put on the red light... ...
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