Duane Brown

I got my very cool Moo cards a few days ago and today I got around to taking some photos of them.

So I can’t wait to start handing these out. Check out my set here.

This is really old but I finally upload my photo and video from Calvacade of Lights 2008.

I’ve not written here in ages… been getting all my writing in at my freelance blog. Check out my latest entry about the Skittles experiment. It’s a beautiful morning to be up. It’s like Spring is fighting to come out and play to day. I hope the whole weekend stays this nice. I should be posting some weekend pictures Sunday night!

Just some of my pictures from back in November when I went to the opening of the new Art Gallery of Ontario.

Check out some of my photos of when I went up North (past Timmins; see map blow) to see Will. There are only a few more towns past Chapleau before you reach our provinces board.
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I just added my newest set of photos for Nuit blanche 2008. I wish I had the opportunity to go for a longer period of time like last year.

For the last 4 or 5 weeks now it has been an on again, off again relationship with the weather gods. The rain just won’t let up.. mind you I’m ok with that as I study for school exams. Lately I feel like I’m been out of my usually zone. I almost lost my two work passes on Friday night when I was washing some clothes.

I put my clothes in the washer and everything seemed good. I got a call from some friends to get some Asian food and I figured why not… I’ve not been out in ages. I just stopped off and put my clothes from the washer to the dryer and in the process, my work pass dropped out of my jeans. Not like me to forget them in my jeans in the first place,  but oh well. In my mind I thought I had put them in my pocket but in reality I put them on top of the washer. It wasn’t until 7 hours later at 2:30am that it occurred to me that my pass wasn’t in my desk draw and I couldn’t find it. After checking every where, I decided to go back to the last place I knew I had seen it and that was the laundry room. Lo and behold it was still on top of the washer.

I’m glad this is the last week of classes because its been weird lately all around. Maybe things will cool off once PRIDE is here in a few week.

I went to see Iron Man last Friday with my Frank (we’ve known each other since high school) and we both loved the movie. It wasn’t a Transformers or Batman Begins kinda love, but I would watch it again. The story, acting and CGI/graphics were all top notch. ILM did an amazing job with the other effect houses.

The New York Times had a great feature over the weekend about gay couples who married early… one was divorced by 26. They even mentioned a book; 10 Smart Things Gay Men Can Do to Improve Their Lives …:

Openly gay therapist Joe Kort provides 10 powerful and positive steps gay men can take to isolate and overcome self-defeating behavior patterns, and move in healthier and more rewarding directions:

Take Charge of Their Own Lives
Affirm Themselves by Coming Out
Resolve Differences With Parents and Relatives
“Graduate” From Delayed Adolescence
Avoid-or Overcome-Sexual Addiction
-Learn from Successful Mentors Who’ve Been There, Done That
Take Advantage of “Therapy Workouts”
Achieve-and Maintain-Rewarding Relationships
Understand the Stages of Loves
Commit to Their Partner

I would pop over and give it a quick read.

So the general manager of the Jack Astor’s location called me on Monday morning to apologize and say how sorry she was about what happened to me on Saturday night. She wanted to make it up to me. She’s glad I wrote the letter and let them know when they dropped the ball and how they can improve. I’m glad they are listening because if not, they have another issue altogether.

An open letter to SIRCorp and Jack Astor’s. Just sent off my letter to Jack Astor’s about the lack of customer service last night. Will they respond is the question?

–

To Whom It May Concern

I’ve been a loyal customer of Jack Astor’s since you opened your Front Street West and University location. I only eat out once a month and over the course of the year I make Jack Astor’s my pick 3 - 5 times. However, the customer service I received last night made me change how I feel. Just over 3 weeks ago I called and made a reservation for my birthday for April 5, 2008 for 15 of my closest friends. I spoke with the hostess and she took down all my details and everything seemed fined. I asked her if I need to add one or two people during the week leading up to my reservations would that be fine and she said it would.

On April 5th at around 2:30 I called and spoke with a Jessica (I believe) and told her I just wanted to add a couple people to my reservation and make sure everything was ok for my party that night. She said that was fine as my reservation had 15 - 20 people as my number reserved. I told her ok and thanked her for her help. I arrived at your restaurant at 7:50pm and spoke with your host who said some of my party was in the bar. I told him ok and went into the bar to find my 4 friends who happened to be early and started drinking and celebrating. I let them hang in the bar as I waited by the entrance for more of my party to arrive. At 5 minutes past 8pm I asked the hostess if I could be seated. She said that it would be at the discretion of the manager, which made me a little confused. While I was waiting for the manager three more of my friends arrived, which brought my total to 8.

The manager introduced himself and said that Jack Astor’s has a reservation policy that 75% of a party must be in the restaurant before they can be seated. I told him I wasn’t aware of such a policy. He restated the policy and told me he would give me a couple minutes for the rest of my party to arrive or he would start taking tables off my reservation area as they had a packed restaurant that night and would only leave enough seats for the people who were in the restaurant. Neither the host, hostess, the person who took my reservation, or confirmation of my reservation hours before hand told me a policy exists. I find it frustrating to be held to a policy that I wasn’t aware of until it was held against me and have over half my party stand in the entrance to your restaurant. If we had been seated we would have ordered more drinks & appetizers and ultimately spend more money instead of going straight to the main meal for the night as we did.

As the night went on having one of your hostess say we wanted everything on one bill was surprising. I asked her how that was possible and she said that the person who made the reservation requested it. I told her I made the reservation and I never requested that. As our other hostess, Bri, was clearing our plates, she accidentally spilled salad on me. Needless to say, this wasn’t exactly a great way to end my night at what use to be one of my favorite restaurants. In the end, I want you to be aware that your corporate policies are not being communicated to your customers. I’m sure I’m not the only one, but I’m one of the few that decided to write this letter. I’m not sure why the policy exists but you are leaving money on the table by not seating people when they come for a reservation. My party would have spend more money with Jack Astor’s and had a better time. This situation has left a bad taste in the mouth of myself and the 16 other people who showed up to celebrate my birthday.

Thank you for your time and I look forward to hearing from you.

[Update] They called to make their wrong right again.

Koodo Mobile 5, originally uploaded by Duane_Brown.

New ads for a cell phone provider, Koodo Mobile, in Canada.

Will is down on Monday and I can’t wait. I’ve not seen him in 45 days. I’m going to take lots of pictures I hope and get back to writing more here for 2008 and beyond.

I had the pleasure of having one of my summer photos features in the February issue of the The Toronto Law Office Management Association (TLOMA). Nancy said she found my picture when doing a search for Family Day on Flickr. Very cool.