Tips on Negotiating a new Wireless Contract with Bell Canada

Yesterday we spent hours, literally hours, negotiating a new wireless contract with our cellphone wireless provider, Bell Canada. The whole process started at around 9:30 am and finally ended at 3:30 pm. Where else in the world can you spend hours in such a productive fashion??? Our emotions ran the gamut from feeling definitely ripped off to doing high-fives in triumph. On which note did we end the day? Stay tuned.

Background
First off, Canada isn't like most other countries - we have essentially three mobile network providers - Bell Canada, Rogers and Telus. There are also a couple of independents like Wind Mobile but they are small fish and they are pretty much limited to big urban centres or certain provinces (e.g. SaskTel and MTS). If you stray out of those areas, you are "roaming" and pay through the nose to use "partner networks" (i.e. Bell, Telus or Rogers). You could say it is a BTR monopoly (but it's not BeTteR)... it's actually a TRB monopoly (TeRriBle).

All three have subsidiary companies that make it look like we have more providers: Fido (Rogers), Virgin Mobile (Bell), Koodo (Telus). Fun, eh? So, getting a cell phone in Canada looks something like this:

You approach a provider, you look at phones and are enamoured with the Samsung Galaxy S6. You are shocked by its sticker price ($700) but happily notice that if you sign up for a 3 year contract, the phone will only cost you $200. You choose a monthly plan based on your needs (data, calling, texting, etc.), sign your three year contract and walk out the door caressing your new S6. Unfortunately, you don't notice the titanium chain that is attached to your ankle... a chain that trails all the way back to your service provider.

Over time, you realize that your monthly plan is not such a good deal but... you are chained to your provider. Your phone is actually locked to their network and you can't unlock it unless you're at the end of your 3 years.

So if you travel, you can't just pop a US SIM card into the phone and use it in the States. Nope, won't work. And if you want to break your 3 year contract, you are paying heavy, heavy fees.

As the end of your three years looms in the near future, your provider phone you with "exclusive" deals to re-commit for another 3 years of indentured servitude... with a new phone thrown in, of course. You have 3 years of "loyalty" built up with this provider which does count for something. If you go to a new provider (one of the other Big 2), you're unlikely to get a better deal... so the story goes. You stick to your guns and your contract ends. You continue as a month-to-month customer but do a happy dance because your vintage S6 phone is now yours! You try to use a US SIM card in it... still locked. You contact your service provider - "Oh, yes, we have to unlock it. That will cost you $50). What?

Some New CRTC Rules
A couple of years ago, the CRTC (Canada's Telecom Regulator) brought in new rules for the benefit of the consumer. The Big 3 had their wrists slapped. Customers now had 30 days after signing a contract to cancel the whole deal with no penalty (buyer's remorse). After 90 days of being in the contract, customers could ask the provider to unlock their phones (but providers could still charge $50 for this "service". Oh, and if you bought the phone outright at the beginning... it was still locked and you still had to pay $50 to unlock the phone that you just bought and now owned. Go figure. Finally, the CRTC ruled that 3 year contracts were too long and limited the term to 2 years.

Now, last week, it was all over the news that people who were in the last year of their 3 year contract (those poor souls who locked in prior to the new CRTC rulings) were in a position of power. They could technically call their service provider and cancel their contract with no penalty as they had fulfilled 2 years of their contract. But of course the Big 3 would offer incentives to retain the customers! Of course...

Our ears perked up at this... my 3 year contract had lapsed in November and I was on a month-to-month plan ($57/month + taxes) and my partner was in the 3rd year of her contract ($57/month + taxes). We decided that today was the day... we would brave the den of the Bell Beast and wield our Sword of Customer Power!

First Negotiation
We pulled straws and my partner, Anne, won (or lost). Actually, given that she was the one with the contract... we decided that she needed to phone, being in the position of more power.

Tip - write out your current wireless plan and component costs on a piece of paper.

So she phoned Bell. She spoke with Customer Service Agent (CSA) #1.

Tip - Get the agents name and Customer Service Agent ID number at the start of the call.

She explained her situation and CSA #1 offered her a "deal" that was something on the order of $80/month (all prices do not include taxes). Anne pointed out that this was way more than what she was paying now.

Tip - make notes of what the agent says - what the "deals" include.

Tip - tell the agent you are making notes

The price dropped by $10... still not good enough. Anne then threw me into the mix. There were actually two of us and we wanted a Shared Plan with 2 GB of data combined. Another deal was offered - $121/month (unlimited nationwide calling, unlimited texting, picture, video messaging, message centre, 2 GB data). We could get Samsung Galaxy S4s but we would still have to pay $$ for them. although CSA #1 did offer a $100 rebate on the two phones. Anne finally asked if that was the best CSA #1 could do? Apparently it was. Anne asked to speak to someone else.

Tip - when you don't get what you want from the first person, ask to speak to someone else. 

We got passed on to CSA #2 (in the Loyalty/Retention Department). This gentleman went backwards with us. He offered $140/month for the same deal CSA #1 had offered us for $120. Anne pointed out that CSA #1 had offered us a $120/month contract. But the sticking point turned out to be the new phones. He couldn't give us S4s for free if we were only paying $120/month. He put us on hold for 10 minutes while he went to consult someone else.

Tip - stay calm - they are playing mind games with you. Use the time to do some research.

CSA #2 came back and offered the Samsung Galaxy Core for free. I looked it up online while Anne was talking with him. It was a piece of sh-t phone. I wrote "NO!" on the paper.

Tip - have someone on hand who can do quick research online while you negotiate

He wouldn't budge. Anne wouldn't budge. Anne finally said that if that was the best he could then she would have to check other service providers. We hung up.


An hour on the phone and we had nothing to show for it. We sat out on the deck, our tails between our legs. Sh-t. Now we would have to call Telus and Rogers and... more hours wasted. We felt like we had been ripped off. We were loyal customers - we were supposed to get a deal! What the heck.

We slowly realized that this was exactly what Bell is probably counting on. Who is going to spend hours on the phone trying to find a better deal with another service provider? Most people will just cave and take the best thing Bell offers them.

I went inside and had a look at Rogers and Telus - just the plans that they offer to new customers on their websites. This was extremely helpful.

Tip - Do this research AHEAD of time! You'll have way more power with Bell.

Sooo... Rogers and Telus both had the S4 for $99.99 (2 year contract) not the $149.99 (2 year contract) that Bell was hawking it for. Which meant the $100 "rebate" that CSA #1 offered us on two phones was a big fat nothing. We could get that at Telus or Rogers as brand new customers.

I dug deeper. With Rogers, we could sign up as new customers on a Shared Plan and get two S4 phones (paying $225), unlimited nation-wide calling, unlimited texting, picture, video messaging and message centre, AND 2 GB of data - all for $120. Oh, and they were waiving the connection/activation fee - $20/phone). What??

We compared this with our notes... Bell was offering us virtually the same thing. But Rogers would give this deal to us as new customers. And Bell was calling this a "loyalty" plan. Where was the loyalty incentive?? We knew the new phones were the sticking point but when we looked at the $225 price tag for two S4's at Rogers... we divided that by 24 months (the length of the 2 year contract) and realized the figure was less than $10/month. Was that not a reasonable loyalty incentive amount?

Second Negotiation
We looked at each other. Anne asked me if I wanted her to phone Bell again? Up to her. With a sigh... she picked up the phone - once again into the breach. Anne asked to be put through to the loyalty department.

Anne reached CSA #3 and told her that she had just spent an hour on the phone with Bell and really didn't want to repeat everything again. That was OK. CSA #3 could see the previous notes on her computer. Anne repeated the gist of the deal we had been offered and then referred to the Rogers deal. Back and forth it went... and finally CSA #3 agreed to throw in the two S4s for free. High-five!!

Anne then asked about the activation fee - $35/phone. She threw the Rogers amount out on the table - $20/phone and Rogers was waiving that fee. CSA #3 agreed to take $10 off of each connection fee and then give us a credit for the remaining $25/phone. Excellent! We reviewed the deal... yup, it was what we wanted. We could go and get the phones in-store and all would be well. The only hiccup was that we needed to add me to Anne's account. Before we left CSA #3, I told Anne to get her name and number. And I asked if something could be sent to us via email.

Tip - get EVERY CSA's name and ID number!

Tip - get the deal/agreement sent to you via Email (not text!)

Erin (CSA #E.....) said she would send Anne a text. In hindsight... we should have insisted on an email. We had to show the text to the in-store CSA and it wasn't all that helpful. After thanking Erin, we were passed along to CSA #4 who was going to combine our accounts. I had to get on the phone and give him my PIN and agree to be added to Anne's account. No problem. He then told Anne that there was a $35 Transfer of Responsibility fee. Anne put her foot down very firmly. She had just spent over an hour negotiating a deal and there had been no mention of this fee. She was not willing to pay this fee. He said there was nothing he could do. She asked to be transferred back to Loyalty.

Tip - stand by your guns. If you don't like what someone is offering - go to a higher-up

CSA #4 put us on hold and then less than minute later, the line went dead. Anne stared at the phone in disbelief. Either he was hopeless at phone transferring or he had just given us the finger. But at this point, we were not backing down. If Bell thought they were getting rid of us that easily... they had another think coming!

Third Negotiation
Anne phoned Bell again and asked to be placed through to Loyalty. She asked for Erin but was told we couldn't be passed directly to a specific agent. Fine... so we ended up with CSA #5 - Cecilia. Anne went into her spiel again summarizing the conversations that had gone before. She let Cecilia know she had been on the phone for almost two hours, had been transferred to someone who would combine the accounts and was then told about the Transfer of Responsibility fee. No one had mentioned this fee to her previously and she was not going to pay it. If she signed up with Rogers as a new customer, they wouldn't charge her a fee to create an account. Besides, in combining our accounts, Bell would actually save money since they would only have to send out one bill. Cecilia hestitated and then agreed. She pulled up the file and without even a murmur, agreed to waive the Transfer of Responsibility fee. She also said that she could combine accounts. Yay! A few minutes later, she came back to say that she couldn't do that - didn't have the correct access. So we were transferred to CSA #6, Jason, who combined our accounts. Finally! We hung up the phone and looked at the clock. Another hour gone... but we had a deal we were happy with!

At the Bell Store
We decided to trot right over to the Bell store and get the phones. First, we drove to a mall with a Bell kiosk. They had no S4 phones and one guy actually said they weren't affiliated with Bell. What? Turned out they were a franchise... Uh-huh. Betcha Bell would love to hear that. They were wearing Bell t-shirts and everything. Anyhow... they phoned the actual Bell store and... yes, they had three S4s!!! Back into the car and drove to another mall.

We walked into the store and were served by Alanna. We told her that we had negotiated a deal with Bell and were there to get the phones.

Tip - Be VERY specific in summarizing your deal. Ask agent if she/he can see it on their computer.

Alanna was happy to help us and began the process of registering our phones to our combined account. Minutes went by... but the S4s were not wanting to be registered... finally, the store manager told Alanna to just give us S5s instead. Secret High-Fives! We were being upgraded at no cost to us!

Tip - don't gloat. It is not becoming.

Mind you, as we got into the nitty gritty of the contract, it was clear that Alanna did not have access to the deal that we had negotiated. She was going to give us $100 off the phones but we said, "No, we are paying nothing for them.". And then, after printing out a contract, Anne noticed that we were actually being charged $150/month not $120!

Tip - Review your contract with a fine-tooth comb.

Tip - Bring your notes to the store

Alanna was perplexed by the deal we said we had negotiated. She said it was an impossible deal! We showed her the text from Erin- but it wasn't helpful. Alanna phoned Bell and CSA #7 wondered at the S5s - so Alanna had to explain the problem with the S4s and that this was a store decision.

Tip - Be patient, polite, friendly and understanding. This could take a while.

Finally, Alanna got off the phone. She would now have to cancel the contract she had just entered (via Buyer's Remorse) and do it all over again. She phoned Bell again (different department).

Finally... after much to-ing and fro-ing... we signed a contract for $120/month. We did add insurance for each phone - $7/month/phone. Now... Erin had told us that insurance would be $7-10/month depending on the deductible. Alanna said it was $7/month with $150 deductible. She had never heard of the $10/month with no deductible. We could have pushed it but at this point, we figured we had put her (and ourselves) through enough! We spent almost 2 hours in store...

Tip - wear comfy shoes and be patient

End Deal

• Shared Plan
• 2 GB data
• unlimited nationwide calling
• unlimited texting, picture, video messaging
• Message Centre (call display, voicemail, etc.)
• $120/month
•  two Samsung Galaxy S5 phones - no charge (listed at $199.99 for a 2-year contract)

Total Savings
$30/month on the listed plan.

$400 for the phones
$75 for the connection fees (2 phones)
$35 for the Transfer of Responsibility fee

Final Advice

• Do your research ahead of time. Knowledge really IS power.
• Know what the competition offers.
• Have an idea of what you want - and think BIG!
• Realize that your loyalty is your biggest asset - flaunt it.
• All fees are negotiable and waivable.
• Be polite but firm.
• Don't settle. If you don't get a deal from the first line people (and you won't) ask to be passed to the Loyalty department. Let them know you're a loyal customer... that you've done your homework... that you are taking notes.
• Get everyone's name and ID number.
• Get it in writing.
• Make sure the store agent is very clear on the deal you have hammered out.
• Review the final printed contract with a fine-tooth comb. Twice. Maybe thrice.
• Be patient. This will take time. A lot of time.

Trying the No-Poo Method (as in no Sham-poo)

A couple of years ago, my nephew-in-law came for a visit with his girlfriend. At some point he let it slip that he hadn`t shampoo-ed his hair in months! We were all amazed at how clean his hair looked. My partner even gave it the sniff test and admitted that his hair didn't smell bad... it just smelled like... hair.

I have been thinking about doing my own no-poo experiment and after reading up on it in several blogs, decided that April/May would be a good time to try it. What are some of the benefits of going no-poo?

Benefits
Well, some-poo advocates will tell you that shampoo strips the natural oils from our hair, making our scalp produce oil in excess to try and replenish. Once you stop using shampoo, your scalp will eventually readjust.

Others will tell you that shampoo darkens your hair so that blonds become darker over time. Stop using shampoo and your hair will get lighter in colour.

Some say that their super-straight hair has started to get some body after they stopped using shampoo. Other people susceptible to frizz say that the frizziness went away after they went no-poo.

Some say that their hair gets thicker, fuller and more lustrous after they ditched the shampoo.

Others say that their chronic dandruff problem vanished after a few weeks of going no-poo.

Then, of course, there are the environmental benefits - not adding any phosphates to our waste water or adding plastic bottles to the landfills (or recycling depots).

It actually turns out that shampoo, as we know it, is less than a century old, which makes one wonder what people used before that?

Pitfalls
Well, the obvious one - oily hair for the first few days/weeks. Although apparently this calms down after 3 to 5 weeks, depending on your hair and scalp time. Oops.... maybe longer. Some people say it can take up to 3 months for your scalp and hair to adjust. That is a LONG transition period!

The No-Poo Method
Soooo... how does one actually go no-poo? Well, obviously, you stop using shampoo and conditioner. But that doesn't mean that you don't actually clean your hair. Turns out that there are a lot of options for how to clean your hair.

Plain Old Water
The easiest by far is the water method. You simply rinse your hair with warm water while you're in the shower. Mind you, you do have to be mindful to not grab the shampoo bottle out of habit!

Baking Soda & Apple Cider Vinegar 
This option is the most well-known. You make a paste from a bit of baking soda and water, and massage that into your scalp. After rinsing very well, you then use a spray bottle to spritz some diluted apple cider vinegar onto your scalp. It turns out that your scalp needs a certain pH in order to be happy. Normally, it is slightly acidic and since baking soda is alkaline, you need the vinegar to balance things out. Soda can make your hair dry and vinegar acts like a conditioner.

Dry Shampoo
You can buy dry shampoo powder and use that to wash your hair. Commercial dry shampoos have chemicals though, so you can find recipes for home-made variants that use arrowroot and baby powder as a base.

Other Options
There are many other products that you can use to clean you hair, including (but not limited to):

• eggs
• beer
• kefir
• rye flour
• lemon juice
• aloe vera
• coconut milk
• epsom salts
• apple sauce
• soap nuts
• bentonite clay

I'm not sure about all of these things. Their use depends on your hair type, your scalp type, your water type (hard or soft) and a myriad of other factors. I thought going no-poo would be relatively simple but... this is sounding more and more complicated.

One Complicated Routine
One lady who has gone no-poo uses the following routine on her hair:

•  About once a month, I wash with baking soda and condition with apple cider vinegar.
•  In between the baking soda wash, I will wash using another method about once a week. My preferred method is rye flour. But I occasionally use bentonite clay, egg, or kefir.
•  I use a dry shampoo in between washes (see my recipe here) as needed, usually about twice a week.
•  About once a month, I do a deep conditioning mask, usually coconut oil.
•  I use argan oil with essential oils as a hair serum once or twice in between washings (see my recipe here).
•  In general, I do not wet my hair unless I am washing it.
•  I scritch and preen with a boar bristle brush 2-3 times a week.

I'm sorry, but I just read that and each sentence made my eyes bug out a bit more. This method seems a tad complicated. And I'm not sure I'd want to put clay in my hair...


My Experience
It's been about three weeks since I last shampoo-ed my hair. The first week it looked rather greasy but since then it has calmed down a bit. When I brush it, it looks nice and fluffy and then settles down into something that still looks a bit greasy but not too bad.

I went to visit my sister last weekend and she had two comments about my hair - it was super long for me (I normally have very short hair) and it looked a bit greasy. Sooo... I think if my hair was shorter, it would look better. One thing that is stopping me from getting a haircut is the comments from the hairdresser!

Will I continue to go no-poo? Good question. I think I'll go and get a hair cut and see if that makes a difference for the better. Some no-poo advocates say you sometimes need to go 3 months to get rid of the greasiness. So I may wait that long... My partner did the sniff test on my hair and said it doesn't smell "bad" per se... it just smells like unscented, unshampoo-ed hair. Not sure if that is a good thing or not!

Worn around the Edges

My laptop is a little workhorse - a 5 year old workhorse. It's seen me through a lot of writing. It's nothing special, an HP Pavilion with a 12" screen. We've seen a lot together, this laptop and I.

A few things are starting to go on it. The power cord has had to be replaced a few times and the replacements aren't quite up to factory specs. The battery died a couple of years ago and I've somehow managed to always find an electrical outlet where I can plug in - airports, coffee shops, etc.

It's starting to show wear and tear in other areas as well. Some of the keys are looking a tad weather beaten... or finger-beaten as the case may be.

On the left hand side of the keyboard, the A S E and D and C are looking particularly sad.

On the right hand side of the keyboard, the L and the N are showing definite signs of wear, with the M soon to join the group.

Which got me to thinking... is there a pattern here? Perhaps those are the most frequently used letters in the English language? So I did a bit of research and there are several versions of the most frequently used letters. Amazing what you can find if you only look for it. I compared my keys to the lists and... well... there isn't too much of a match.

E T A O I N  S H R D L U  C M F W Y P  V B G K J Q X Z

I suppose my most badly worn letters are in the Top 13. But beyond that... I would have thought that the T and the O and I would be worn as well...

Is it a handedness thing? Well... most of the worn keys are on my left hand side (five keys) and I am a right handed person (three keys worn), so that wouldn't seem to fly either.

Is it a finger-strength thing? Like maybe the most worn keys are all on the middle row... or under the index finger or something? Doesn't really seem to work either. Although, only one key in the upper row is worn... and three keys in the lower row.

Or perhaps it's simply differences in the paint that was used to mark the letters on the keys? I just checked the keyboard on my desktopk and, lo and behold, the same pattern is there as well. So... probably not a manufacturing defect but likely a user issue!

Now, for some people, the fading keys might be a problem, particularly those folks of the hunt-and-peck variety. Myself, having suffered/benefited from three years of typing in junior high school, I am a full two-handed typer. FDSA space JKL; space! We might not have understood the method behind Mr. Papais' madness as he called out the letters in class... but it worked! Anyhow, the F and J keys are the anchor keys on a keyboard and each have a small raised bar on the key, so that the index fingers always know where they are and can find "home" easily. After that, it's easy. Just watch the letters materialize on the screen.

Theoretically, if all the markings on my letter keys eventually became worn down to nothing, I could still type quite effectively. It's like the letters on the keys are training wheels.... I could still function without seeing them. No so with number keys or some of the upper case number keys like # or ^ or *. I still need to look for those sometimes.

But... if those little raised bars on F and J ever disappeared... I'd have a much more difficult time. Those are the things that keep my fingers moving. If I lost those, I'd be pretty much hooped and would have to look at the keys.

Which is kind of interesting... it isn't so much the lettered keys that help me to type... it is two small raised bars (or raised dots on some keyboards) that really help me to type. It is they that guide me back to "home". It isn't always the obvious things in life that guide us... but sometimes the more subtle things. We rely so much upon sight but oftentimes our other senses are working away as well - sound, smell, taste, touch... helping us to move through the world.

Status of Kicking Sugar to the Curb

Well... what to say. I did pretty well in January and February, not so good in March and horrible in April! My goal was to limit by consumption of Starbucks hot chocolate and to reduce my sugar intake. I haven't been doing so well on either front.

I know that sugar is an addictive substance... and I seem to be living proof of that! I like my peanut M&Ms. If I don't go to Starbucks, I make my own hot chocolate, which has sugar in it... and sometimes even have two of those in a day. I come up with all sorts of excuses.

• I've been working hard
• I deserve a reward
• It's just one packet of M&Ms
• It's just one hot chocolate
• I'll turn over a new leaf tomorrow

A small part of the sweetener section at Superstore.

But tomorrow never seems to come. The funny thing is... I've been here before, many times actually.

I used to drink quite a bit of Coca Cola... up to 3 or 4 cans a day. Every once in a while I would go cold turkey and suffer the effects of caffeine and sugar withdrawal for a week. But then I would slowly start drinking Coke again - a can at 2 pm... then 1 pm... then 10 am and another at 2 pm. And so it would go.

I quit Coke many times... but always started drinking again. Until, one day, I did actually stop. It was July 7, 2009. It wasn't easy. I had cravings for months afterwards. I had trouble watching other people drink Coke. I would look at it longingly through the glass doors in the convenience stores. But... eventually... I got over the hump, and I've been good ever since. And that gives me hope.

Part of the problem with Starbucks hot chocolate is the ambience here. I like the comfy leather chairs. I like the sombre paint colours (brown, beige, grey). I find it all very soothing. And that is probably part of the problem. I'm not just addicted to the hot chocolate and sugar, I'm addicted to the environment at Starbucks. And the addictions go hand-in-hand. I've tried to come to Starbucks and have a tea... it's not the same. I have created a ritual with my Starbucks visits and deviating from that ritual doesn't satisfy me in the same way.

So, perhaps it is time to alter my morning routines/rituals. Particularly on the weekends when I am most susceptible to the siren call of Starbucks. I get up early, grab my laptop bag and head out at 5:30 in the morning. It is calm and peaceful here and I can get some writing done. But perhaps it is time to try something else... get up early, grab my camera bag and head out at 5:30 a.m. to get some cool early morning pictures. I used to do that... but I don't anymore. So, if I am going to eliminate Starbucks, I need to replace it with something else, something that is soothing and brings me joy.

Looking back over the last 6 years, all I really did was replace my Coke habit with my hot chocolate habit... replaced one sugar addiction with another. I suppose at some point, I just have to make the decision and stick with it. And be alert to the other ways in which sugar might try to sneak into my life.

The Lowly Appendix

Most of us are born with an appendix, a small dead-end tube attached to the colon, where the small and large intestines meet. For decades, scientists were baffled by this little biological mystery. The appendix didn't seem to do anything. Unless it go inflamed of course... in which case, the appendix could burst, cause a serious infection and possibly even death.

Most often though, the person suffering from appendicitis got to a hospital, the surgeons operated, removed the appendix and all went well. The person suffered no ill effects and the body didn't seem to operate any less efficiently.

So, the lowly appendix was considered to be a weird vestigial appendage that may have done something useful in the past, but no longer. That's what I thought for many years. But recent studies have shown something different.

Appendix function diagram by WebHamster - Wikipedia.
Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Turns out the little dead-end appendix has a one way valve where it meets up with the colon. Material can get out of the appendix but not into it. Which is kind of weird. Scientists now think that the lowly appendix serves as a reservoir of healthy gut bacteria.

For example, if you get a tummy bug that causes diarrhea (think a C. difficile infection), the infection moves everything through your gut and cleans everything out. But your gut needs good bacteria in order to function - and the appendix releases them out into the colon to assist in the healthy recovery of the digestive system. The idea that people who have had appendectomies don't experience any ill effects also isn't exactly true. People without an appendix are four times more likely to be reinfected by C. difficile.

Soooo... not a lowly appendix but actually a hardworking member of the human digestive system.

Which makes me wonder about the hubris of science. Just because we can't see an obvious use for something doesn't necessarily mean there isn't one. There are so many insects in the world, so many plants, so many animals, so much sea life. Just because we don't understand the purpose of something... doesn't mean it doesn't have a purpose. Just because something doesn't appear to be useful doesn't mean it doesn't serve an important function.

Today, we are losing insects, plants and animals at an alarming rate. Climate change, loss of habitat, pollution - all play a role in the extinction rate. The scary thing is... we really don't know what we are losing. We don't know the purpose of all of those organisms... or their usefulness.

For example, the West Coast of British Columbia is seeing an unprecedented collapse in starfish populations - courtesy of sea star wasting disease. It's caused by a pathogen and exacerbated by warming ocean temperatures. What will happen to the coastal marine ecosystem? We don't know. Do we care? After all, it's only starfish??

As humans, we think we are the most important creatures on the planet. The truth is... the planet will survive without us... plants, animals, insects, sea life... we really won't be missed.

Book 2 in the Wayward Pines Trilogy

Well... I got the second book in the trilogy yesterday - from the public library... of course! I started reading it over lunch, continued while waiting for my Dad to have a CT scan at the hospital, squeezed in a bit more in the bathtub and then finished it off in bed (9:30 pm).

It was very good - but... I have got to learn to STOP reading the last few pages of books. I still totally enjoyed the book but... lost some of the suspense as I knew what was coming and who was who.

As for the third book...I am still #5 in line for 2 copies. I might not get it by the time the series premieres on May 14 but... I am making a commitment here to NOT read the last few pages of The Last Town!

I've seen no spoilers for the third book - a problem that plagued me in the second book. I guess I figured that the ending of the second book was already wrecked, so I might as well read the last few pages but... there were still a few surprises and I kinda wrecked them. So... again... no flipping to the end for the third book!

I can't even use the "When Harry Met Sally" excuse that I am a "dark" person who reads the end of a book because I might die before I finish it and I don't want to die unsatisfied not knowing the ending (the excuse used by Harry (Billy Crystal) in the movie). I just don't do anticipation very well... or surprises. I want to know things NOW! So this will be good practice for me... if I can stand the suspense.

Status of the No-Book-Buying Year

Four months ago, I decided to try and make 2015 a "no-book-buying" year. No Chapters book purchase. No ebook purchases. No second-hand book purchases. Instead, I committed to getting books through my local library.

Four months into this adventure I have to say it's been working pretty good. According to my "read" shelf on my library account, I've read 17 books in the past four months. That's about four books a month, or one book a week, which I figure is pretty darn good. At this rate, I could have read 52 books by the end of the year. Quite an accomplishment.

There are some good points and some bad points to this library thing:

Perks
Money - I am saving mega $$ in my budget. No money spent on books means there is more money for other things. If I bought 52 books over the course of a year, average price $15... I would end up spending close to $800. Which isn't too far off from what the library has calculated. They took the market value of resources borrowed divided by the number of registered borrowers and voila... the value of my library card is $840.

No Remorse - Not buying all these books means I don't have buyer's remorse. You know how it is... a book looks good, sounds good... but ends up being a waste of time. This way... if I don't like a book... I don't have to finish it! And there are a few of those not included in my grand total of 17 at this point. And they didn't cost me anything!

Space - at this point, I have more space on my bookshelves. If I had bought those 17 books, I'd need to find room for them... which goes against my current desire to live a more minimalist lifestyle.

Ease - I let my fingers do the borrowing. I have yet to go into the library and browse the stacks. I hear about a book I want to read... or I do a subject search in the online library catalogue... or an author search...  and I am good to go. It can be a bit hit or miss sometimes because I don't get to read the back cover or the inside of the dust cover but... on the whole... it's been working well for me.

Environment - The library is really an environmentalist's dream. Instead of hundreds of books being mass-produced to satisfy hundreds of customers... five books can be printed and satisfy hundreds of customers over many years.

Peeves
Waiting - Big peeve. I have a "hold" list of about 11 books. These are books that I've requested and want to read but... I am way down the line and just have to be patient.

Feast or Famine - I have yet to figure out a way to regulate the flow of books. Sometimes I only have one library book at home. Other times, a slew of them come into the library at the same time and I end up with seven of them at home, waiting to be read.

Not enough time - When I end up with seven books at home, I find that I can't quite read all of them in the three week borrowing period. I can try to renew the books but if someone else has a hold on them then... they have to go back. So... that is a bit of an annoyance, but hasn't been too bad so far.

On the whole, I would say that I love this way of reading books. It's easy, it's cheap and it's good for the environment. Which is kind of funny because... when I was a kid, my mom took me on weekly trips to the library and I would always come home with a stack of books. At some point though... I started buying books or received books as presents. The Hardy Boys. The Black Stallion. Scholastic Book Services. I think it's kind of neat that I am returning to my library borrower roots....

An Un-put-downable Book - Wayward Pines Book 1

It's been a few years since I picked up a book and just had to... HAD TO... read it through from cover to cover. But a few days ago, I read just such a book. I had been seeing advertisements on TV for the new FOX TV series - Wayward Pines. The preview looked intriguing and so I borrowed the book from the library. Turns out it's part of a trilogy. So I borrowed the first book - Pines. After reading the book - cover to cover in one day - I put a hold on the second book - Wayward and am on the waiting list for the third book - The Last Town.

The story follows a Secret Service agent, Ethan Burke, who has been sent to a small town in Idaho to figure out what happened to two Secret Service agents who have gone missing. Wayward Pines, the town, is super cute and quaint but just a tad strange. As it turns out... once you enter Wayward Pines, you can't leave... enough said. I know some people hate spoilers so... I won't spoil it for you. Suffice to say, it was a great book. And now I'm dancing from foot to foot waiting for the second book.

By the way, do yourself a favour and don't read any reviews of the second book because some of them give away the ending of the first book. Very annoying.

Now, having gushed about the book, it isn't high-brow literature by any means. It is a bit of horror, a bit of science fiction, a bit of dystopia, a bit of Twin Peaks. The writing is a bit clumsy in places but... I hardly noticed. And... reading this book makes me want to read other books by the same author. A stamp of approval if there ever was one.  Unfortunately, our public library system doesn't have a lot of his books sooo... I might have to put in an inter-library-loan and keep my fingers crossed!

The TV series starts on May 14 and I want to have all the books read by then. Keeping my fingers crossed that the third book gets to me by then!