How weird... It's 9:05pm outside and it's still light!

Bumped up to Luxury

When I got to Narita there was a big line up for checking into Air Canada. It appears that they overbooked so were looking for people to fly out on the next day (or take a different route). They offered me a hotel, dinner and breakfast but I said that wasn't interesting for me. Why would I want to stay in a hotel and then fly out a day later? I'm not looking for "enjoying a hotel"; that's not me. It took me three times to get them to agree to giving me a business upgrade before I accepted.

However... I was told I'd have to come back after they closed the check in, just in case there was space.

So I showed up at 6pm and waited for a half hour. Finally, they came up to me and told me that they could put me on Thursday's flight. I wasn't too happy about that so kind of politely told them to give it to one of the other people waiting as well. They didn't want to do that I guess because it would have cost them a business upgrade, a hotel, dinner and breakfast so they pushed. And I refused. Finally they told me I could fly on the same day, but there was a business class seat available.

So I took it!

And I loved it. Wow! This plane was one of the newer airplanes with first class and business seats as those new fancy dancy individual cocoons. You can fully adjust the seating with infinite angles for legs, seat, back, headrest. It goes full flat for sleeping as well (and I could actually stretch out fully flat. That was nice (though my legs are still just a wee bit too long so I had to cross my ankles and have my head be beyond the length of the bed in order to stretch out.) But amazing nonetheless.

And the rest of the business class was business, which means real china, real silverware, real champagne and a wine from 2003 which makes it very expensive wine (I can't afford to buy wine that old anymore). AND they had real food to complement my four eggs, chunks of cheese, container of deep fried chicken pieces (kara age, not "nuggets" - those of you who know and love) and salami slices mmmmm. The flight was only about 10hrs I think, and I got to eat, watch two movies (Star Trek - AWESOME! and X-men Origins: Wolvering - VERY GOOD).

Then I jumped on a 3hr flight to Winnipeg that was full of families who had done a "baby run" to China. I guess they sell babies in China for adoption so about eight screaming babies were on that flight (and new parents who didn't really know how to deal with them).

Instead of arriving late at night I got to Winnipeg at 7pm which was perfect. Mom was there to hug me, she called Dad who drove around to the front and picked me up. We came to Bruce's, dropped off my stuff, looked around the house (he is a carpenter and my dad is a do everything kind of guy) so they are renovating the house Bruce bought a year ago - looks great! Then we went to my parents' for dinner, off to Tim Horton's for coffee, came home, chatted, unpacked, showered and went to bed.

And today it is a chilly 16C/61F rainy day with NO humidity that I can tell! It feels cold, but dry so that is nice.

Off to do some running around, but I just wanted to show you a photo of the seat I got on my business class flight to Vancouver. And you know me... Mr. Man of a Few Words.

I love you!

Cam

Lisa LaVie

I recently found Lisa LaVie on YouTube. I have few subscriptions, and I really don't use YouTube that often for entertainment.

But Lisa... I love listening to her voice. 

I don't know if you'll like her, but she just put this song up 14 hours ago:

"Wild Horses (Natasha Bedingfield)" by Lisa LaVie

I love you!

Cam

Update: Bike dropped off @ courier. Suitcase packed & dropped off @ Post Office. Let's see if they arrive @ Narita Airport for me to pick up on 7/30. I may be naked & bikeless in Mosquitopeg...

There seemed to be a fair number of freerider ticks on me when I got home. But I'm eating dinner now, so everything's just fine. Oh, and I saw a wild boar again in action! Well, his shank, as he ran away anyway. I really do enjoy the pork action from behind! I love you!

Damn! I'm going to have to go grocery shopping again before I leave for Tokyo! I was SURE I had bought enough meat and vegetables to last me until Sunday... but I'll run out by tomorrow's dinner and have nothing left for Friday, Saturday and Sunday breakfast! Drat!!

Paging All Recruitment Officers!

I recently applied for this job:

 

MICHAEL PAGE INTERNATIONAL
Recruitment Consultant
JPY 6.0M - 10.0M/Year, Minato-Ku, Tokyo
https://jobs.gaijinpot.com/index/view/job_id/32465

 

And then I received this e-rejection:

 

Many thanks for your email and resume. You have an interesting range of skills and experience, which may be applicable to recruitment consulting, however unfortunately at this time we have received a number of applications from candidates whose backgrounds more closely match our requirements, for example prior fee earning experience in a recruitment consultancy, or direct sales in an industry that we recruit into.

Therefore I regret I will not be inviting you for an interview on this occasion. But I do wish you all the best with your job search, and thank you for your interest in Michael Page.

Richard King

 

Since most businesses these days have a disclaimer on their career section that basically says, "if we're not interested in you we sure as hell aren't going to waste our time telling you so!" it was a breath of fresh air to get this rejection letter (very very rare these days).

 

I was in fact so impressed, that even though there was no return email address to write to (the email came from noreply@gaijinpot.com), I went to their website, found an address and replied. This is how I responded:

 

Dear Mr. King,

 

Thank you very much for your email. It is very professional, very much appreciated and EXTREMELY RARE in this day and age. Most offerings specifically state that "only applicants of interest will be contacted". To date I have submitted approximately 50 CVs around the world, and YOURS is the only reply I have received.

 

I am very impressed by this.

 

Congratulations on a job well done and I hope you find the best fit for this most interesting position.

 

I am sorry I did not meet your specifications. But that's life, yes?

 

Regards,

 

Cameron Switzer

 

In this day and age everyone seems to feel they have no time, no time, no time!!! And thus all of the stuff that requires a human touch has gone human-free. Another reason is to cut costs because all companies are feeling the shareholder pressure to cut their costs, and therefore make their business "appear" healthier on the stock exchange, thus raising the share value, and making the shareholders wealthier. It's not a good thing to do. When it comes to the human element of business, be it selling a product or service, MORE time and money should be spent investing in the customer rather than less. After all, if you don't have a client, how can you have a business, right? With competition getting more and more fierce, one would think that the good companies "get this" and don't succumb to the business-damaging greedy needs of the "short term gain" stock holders.

 

So I just thought I'd let you know. Nobody is interested in me yet, though.

 

I love you!

 

Cam