It’s been another long, long while since I last posted a meager post. For good reason too, lots has been happening in my life and I just don’t have the time to stop and think about it! Well actually, I do have the time to stop and think about it, but since I took the time to do thinking, I ran out of time for writing.
Finals are in about two days. It’s interesting how I’m not panicking at all. I think my sense of panic just kind of wore out. It used to be there, back in first year. But then I discovered that by some kind of fluky chance, I can get decent marks without being in a big rush to study. Which pretty much took away all the motivation I ever had to study. So here I am on Friday evening with an exam Monday and an exam Tuesday, and what am I doing? Blogging. And just finished watching the Canucks game. And browsing facebook too.
Weird how facebook kinda just took the community by storm, and how you’re probably reading this post off facebook, even though it originates from my blog that you probably didn’t know existed. Facebook is kinda revolutionary, I think. Not in that it’s a new idea because that kind of thing honestly has been done before, to lesser success. It’s revolutionary because it’s a kind of de-anonymizing of the internet. People used to try to avoid putting their names/address/email/contacts on the internet. But now it’s like they’ve come out of the closet and they’re showing the whole world! It’s not like there’s any less risk now. It must be a stalker’s dream, to have everyone organized in a database by school, interests, clubs, fetishes, whatever. And who was it that said it should be an advertisement agency’s dream? (was it you, Vincent?) You’re absolutely right.
Two weeks ago, I started a little project. The weak front motor mount in the 3rd generation 2.0L Protege is known to break. I had been getting jerky driving in first and second gear ever since I got the car, and up until recently, I thought I was just bad at driving manual. But it turns out that No.3 mount was to blame (or I’d like to think so anyway ^_~). I took it out and indeed the soft rubber was already ripped halfway through. Being a DIY’er, I went and got two syringes of fast-curing industrial strength epoxy, and filled the mount with it to reinforce it.
It kinda worked, but wasn’t ideal. Swaying was much reduced. Vibration was much increased! Sitting at stop signs, the entire car would start vibrating and it would feel like sitting in a massage chair! lol it was kinda hilarious. I think that the engine or mount has a resonant frequency at around 750 rpm that Mazda didn’t do a great job of tuning out. After a couple of days, I noticed the vibrations start to decrease. Turns out the epoxy cracked and started to separate from the core.
So I put in an order for a new motor mount for $50 + $13 shipping from SLS Performance in Salt Lake City, Utah. I wanted they to ship by USPS, but they shipped it with UPS anyway saying that the item was too big. Okay, fair enough. After a week or so, I came home to find a UPS note on my door. It said that they wanted $43 for a “Brokerage” fee. They said $3 was duties, $7 was taxes, and $33 was basically to pay someone to fill out a form. Well I got all worked up and pissed about it, and found out that lots of people have experienced this and the general consensus is to just avoid UPS altogether when shipping to Canada.
I seriously question the legality of this. First of all, I wasn’t notified of this at any point, until the package came to my house. I already paid for the product and I already paid UPS to ship it to me. So basically they pretend everything is good and dandy until the driver comes to my door, with my package being held hostage in one hand, and trying to grab my money with the other. Secondly, according to section 32 of the Customs Act (I did my homework), a legitimate broker must have written, signed permission from me, granting them power of attorney, before importing items on my behalf. They didn’t even attempt to contact me, let alone get my written permission.
Well I was having none of that. I assembled all my paperwork and legal documents and crap and got ready to fight out a battle. I called them on their BS and stated (not asked, stated) that I would be clearing customs myself. And to my surprise, they said okay! Finding a bit of time today, I made my way down to the new UPS hub at the airport. After waiting in line for about half an hour for the two very slow working employees to serve a line of three people, they said that they would start the paperwork and be done in twenty minutes. So after having waited more than an hour in total there, I finally got the paperwork and drove over to the government customs office. After waiting in line for about two minutes, I showed the officer my paperwork. He stamped it, and sent me off on my merry way! No taxes, no duties, no nothing. So basically UPS was giving me 100% BS and trying to blame the charges on the government when in reality they’re taking it because they think they can get away with it. Well going back to the UPS office, I waited in line for another fifteen minutes to pick up my package.
I traded two hours to save $43. Not too bad, if you ask me. No wonder UPS is being sued right now. After seeing the invoice and shipping papers, there was a document in there that said I grant them power of attorney. The signature sign was empty though, so I don’t see how they can get away with it. So after the ordeal, I would definitely avoid UPS in the future if at all possible! USPS/Canadapost can import/export just fine without charging ridiculous fees.
So anyway, after I got home with the mount it was still early afternoon so I got under my car, took out the old, now epoxy-filled mount, and put the new one in! I love how it looks! Very stock and inconspicuous, which is how it was meant to be! There are still some vibrations, sadly. But on the plus side, the changes to the car’s driving dynamics are incredible! I never expected the car to feel a whole lot different while driving, but the throttle response is now instant! Its now become obvious to me that the old broken mount was taking away a lot of the power of the engine as it wasted the precious little juice it had to twist the engine around on its soft, crappy mounts. Now that power goes straight to the wheels and the drivetrain components are protected from the stress of engine movement too! Bonus! So that’s that.
I think that from this, I’ve realized that I’m too quick to assume hostility when there’s a conflict. When I called UPS’s customer service, I assumed that they would try to blow me off, but I was definitely surprised to find that they simply met my demands. I think I do that a lot. But I think it’s also because I’ve been burned before, caught with my pants down, so to speak. I’ve realized that now, whenever I’m making a call, asking for something, demanding something, questioning something, I’ve always got all the relevant paperwork laid out in front of me, a calculator to my left, and Google on my computer screen.
And I do that on a personal level too. Well, not the whole paperwork thing (that would be scary) but if there’s a conflict, I too easily turn hostile and assume the other person will be hostile too. Maybe as a customer it can sometimes help me get what I want, but on a personal level, it doesn’t help resolve anything.
Changing gears… so what else has happened lately… the Canucks, of course! Playoff games are going on in Vancouver again, after three years without! And what a way to begin. First game, the Canucks get a two goal lead in the third period and then blow it. They go four overtimes and almost into a fifth before Henrik Sedin finally ends it with a merciful goal. It was an incredible game, for sure. I was originally planning on doing my project, but ended up watching until about 12:30, when the game ended. What a team to go into the playoffs with, too! Backed by the greatest goalie in the league, I have to like their chances this year. I hope it won’t affect my marks, though! Playoffs for students have begun too, in the form of finals. -_-’
I’m really looking towards summer term, though. I finally got a job! I’m gonna be working as a programmer, so should be very exciting! In some ways, the more time I spend at school, the more I realize I’m meant to be an engineer. We’ve had a couple projects this term and it’s really been a blast working on them! Though they are such a pain, it’s really fun! I love finally using the things we learn in lecture and finding out what the real world is like, rather than just analysing stuff in a textbook. Maybe I should have gone to PIP… naaah. =P
I’m kinda realizing that I’m more interested in CE than EE and Biomed, though. I’m not sure what I should do! I think EE/Biomed have more career potential, but maybe I should pursue my interests? It’s a hard decision, though, because EE is still similar in a lot of ways, and staying with it will not be totally leaving my favorites behind. Maybe I should find out when’s the deadline for switching departments (or whether it has passed) and go from there… but there’s another reason I don’t wanna leave Biomed…
I went out to wreck beach again the other day. To do some thinking. Its been a long time since I’ve gone somewhere myself just for the sake of being there. No other reason. The peace and quiet is nice. I felt so alone out there, though. There was this strange feeling of solitude as I looked out over the waters of the Georgia straight. I found myself wishing. As I looked at the occasional car coming down the road and then making a u-turn as it reached the dead end, I wondered if I could break away from what I’ve always done in the past. Maybe I should just do it. Maybe I should stop making excuses for myself.
this is a beautiful blog