You know, I’m not going to pretend I know a lot about the military – despite being associated with it through my husband for more than 10 years, but I do know enough to know that being charged with AWOL can be a result of something as simple as sleeping in and not showing up for work on time.

To read the latest headling in the edmontonsun.com – Canada – AWOL Canucks have doubled you’d think that we have a large number of Candian troops permanently deserting the military or taking off to avoid duties. Despite what some people might believe, it’s not that difficult to leave the military should you decide that it’s not a career option you want to pursue. It’s also not that difficult to “dag red” and become ineligable for deployment overseas. Granted, it’ll have massive ramifications on your career, but if you’re not interested in staying with the Canadian Forces, then that won’t be an issue for you.

I’d be really interested in reviewing the AWOL numbers and the reasons for their charges. I wonder just how many of the “sharp rise in charges” are a direct result of things like sleeping in, being late for work, leaving work early… all things that could result in AWOL charges should they be pursued. Despite the article’s attempt to make it seem as if AWOL is the same a Desertion, they are in fact massively different charges.

Granted, anyone doing a few minutes of research before publishing a story such as this might have been able to figure that out on their own. I’m becoming more disillusioned at the state of our media reporting of late. To bring Anthony Boneca’s name into the article in the end is not only in bad taste but also blatently misleading. The comments referred to were received second hand and never came from Boneca directly as is implied by the article. While the comments are a quote from representative of the Polaris Institute (Steve Staples) this would have been a great time for the editor or writer to include a short disclaimer outlining the fact that Mr. Staples comments had been directly disputed by the members of the Boneca family. Instead, they chose to leave the impression that his statements were without reproach.

Then again, I should know better than to expect fair and balanced reporting.  Sensationalism sells far more newspapers.

Technorati Tags: military, awol, media reporting, polaris institute

To avoid the crazy roaming fees ($5.00 CAD/minute) charged by my cell provider, a few months ago I purchased a cell phone to use while I’m in Manila. The phone uses the Filipino Globe network and is pay-per-use. I purchase pre-paid cards and then load the amount into the account based on the phone number. The credits are valid for 60 days from the time of load. Basically, it works the same as a standard pay-as-you-go phone in North America.

All things considered, it’s not too expensive. It costs approximately 21 pesos a minute (approx 46 cents CAD) to call Edmonton and 30 pesos (65 cents CAD) to send a text message. While that sounds expensive by our standards, it’s much cheaper than what I would spend if I were to call home through the hotel phone. A 15 minute call on the hotel phone cost a little over $19 CAD. A 55 minute call on my cell cost $26 CAD. As you can see there’s a huge difference between paying 46 cents a minute and $1.26 a minute!

A predetermined number of local text messages are provided free when you load your card (85 free texts with 500 peso load, 35 with 300p load), but there is a fee for local calling. I’ve noticed that very few people actually talk on their cell phones – they’re all too busy texting and I’ve also picked up the habit.

The free texts add up to a significant number after time and remain on your account even when your phone is out of load (you can’t send text messages when your phone is out of load, but you can receive incoming calls and texts). The number does not reset. Since February, I’ve accumulated over 350 free texts that I haven’t yet used. Each time I load the phone, I obtain more free texts. Despite sending dozens of messages I day, I doubt I can make my way through all of them before I leave at the end of August.

Technorati Tags: cell phone, text messaging

Apparently it’s my destiny to misplace things this month. First my glasses and car keys, then my AMEX card, and now the power-cord to my laptop.

I packed up to leave work in the morning and grabbed my cell phone, laptop and put the LAN cable back where it belonged but I didn’t do the most important thing. After unplugging my power-cable from the laptop, I forgot to unplug it from the wall and pack it back in my case.

Of course, when I returned to the hotel I immediately crashed for some much needed sleep. When I woke up and decided to try to work for a bit – posting blog entries, fixing up some participant guides, playing around with the NK website layout – I discovered that I was powerless. Since I couldn’t work (my battery charge was super low) I had to *gasp* find new ways to amuse myself. Needless to say I finished off another book.

Since our offices are spread out over the city – and I was planning on working out of a different one this evening – I had to high tail it to the one I was at this morning in order to recover my power-cord and then schlep my way over to a different office for the remainder of the shift. On the bright side, when I arrived at the first office, the power-cord was just where I left it (and still plugged into the wall).

Now, maybe I should find one of those kiddy leashes and start attaching all my possessions to me so I don’t misplace them in future!

Technorati Tags: lost, power-cord, laptop

It’s here! I can eat, sleep and breathe again.

For years, I’ve watched those cheezy AMEX commercials where people lose (or have stolen from them) their ID, money, etc.

Today, I am profoundly grateful.

Somehow the hotel (I’m convinced the building has a mind of its own) has discovered I wanted to stay somewhere else this trip. First it was the crazed channel flipping and random porn exposure on the TV. Then, the gift shop was out of calling cards so I couldn’t load my phone to call home. Now, the bathtub is broken! So much for my plans for a relaxing soak after work…

The maintenance staff will need to fix the faucets tomorrow. Hopefully they’ll read the note on my file that says I work nights and decend upon the room at a reasonable hour.

The guests are FIFA crazy and only Vince – our transplaced Filipino-Canadian desk clerk from Toronto – cared that Edmonton had lost the Stanley Cup in game seven.

Technorati Tags: travel, hotel