tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8481517073287171532024-03-13T05:41:56.488-07:00!t a!n't me... !t's all y'allApparently, I am au contraire, against the grain, unusual, unique, multifaceted - a bit of a 'Sybil'. But the good thing about that is, I often collaborate with my inner selves to bring unpredictable elements to my writing.
What you'll find here is humour, diatribe, sentiment and introspective - whatever takes 'our' fancy.Sam Walkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01042888599773098090noreply@blogger.comBlogger38125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-848151707328717153.post-56350038973055609512020-12-29T19:18:00.099-08:002021-01-22T17:28:17.464-08:00Santatool & santascrape Warning <div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW180776956 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><h1 style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: center; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Santatool & Santascrape</span></span></span></h1><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><h1 style="background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; font-size: 12px; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: center; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun SpellingErrorV2 SCXW180776956 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; background-image: url("data:image/svg+xml;base64,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"); background-position: 0% 100%; background-repeat: repeat-x; border-bottom: 1px solid transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><span style="color: red;">Given my experience with the company that supplies these.</span></span></span></span></h1><h1 style="background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; font-size: 12px; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: center; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun SpellingErrorV2 SCXW180776956 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; background-image: url("data:image/svg+xml;base64,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"); background-position: 0% 100%; background-repeat: repeat-x; border-bottom: 1px solid transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><span style="color: red;">Beware!</span></span></span></span></h1></span></span><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7XfrOhl6sOA/X-vfG0ykn1I/AAAAAAAABq8/nTYn7MJO0L4BWy5tGT5WBevHuONOfPA5ACLcBGAsYHQ/s1156/Screenshot%2B2020-12-29%2Bat%2B5.59.32%2BPM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="1156" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7XfrOhl6sOA/X-vfG0ykn1I/AAAAAAAABq8/nTYn7MJO0L4BWy5tGT5WBevHuONOfPA5ACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Screenshot%2B2020-12-29%2Bat%2B5.59.32%2BPM.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Image credit Amazon.ca</span></td></tr></tbody></table></span></span></h4></div><div><br /></div><p class="Paragraph SCXW180776956 BCX0" paraeid="{81da98ae-10cf-408f-83d6-01fce6c95475}{72}" paraid="1289719577" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">So, with the onset of Christmas, most of us look for stocking stuffers, little things, gadgets whatever, and what I</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">’ve </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">seen all over the Internet - as I do every year - is this attractive little gadget pictured above. The one I saw on the company's website that this blog post pertains to–which is almost <i>exactly</i> the same picture as the one above–is called the <span style="color: red;">s</span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun SpellingErrorV2 SCXW180776956 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; background-image: url("data:image/svg+xml;base64,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"); background-position: 0% 100%; background-repeat: repeat-x; border-bottom: 1px solid transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><span><span style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">antatool...</span></span></span></span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW180776956 BCX0" paraeid="{81da98ae-10cf-408f-83d6-01fce6c95475}{72}" paraid="1289719577" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun SpellingErrorV2 SCXW180776956 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; background-image: url("data:image/svg+xml;base64,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"); background-position: 0% 100%; background-repeat: repeat-x; border-bottom: 1px solid transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW180776956 BCX0" paraeid="{81da98ae-10cf-408f-83d6-01fce6c95475}{72}" paraid="1289719577" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun SpellingErrorV2 SCXW180776956 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; background-image: url("data:image/svg+xml;base64,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"); background-position: 0% 100%; background-repeat: repeat-x; border-bottom: 1px solid transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">(I'm not using any of Santatool's images, which I would think they themselves have no right to use, given the other places I've seen them used. All images here are in the public domain).</span></span></span></span></p><h1 style="background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: center; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></h1><p class="Paragraph SCXW180776956 BCX0" paraeid="{81da98ae-10cf-408f-83d6-01fce6c95475}{72}" paraid="1289719577" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-variant-ligatures: none;"><br /></span><span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"></span></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-X2nMsyDQ2So/X-vhwzTwkLI/AAAAAAAABrY/WUmKw-YiWXkbvC08ZeIZ3aLmavGRTEEdgCLcBGAsYHQ/s960/fullsizeoutput_22a.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="699" data-original-width="960" height="146" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-X2nMsyDQ2So/X-vhwzTwkLI/AAAAAAAABrY/WUmKw-YiWXkbvC08ZeIZ3aLmavGRTEEdgCLcBGAsYHQ/w200-h146/fullsizeoutput_22a.jpeg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Santatool's logo is similar to this - pic courtesy or picpng.com</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><div style="text-align: right;"><span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: none;"><br /></span></span></div><p></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW180776956 BCX0" paraeid="{81da98ae-10cf-408f-83d6-01fce6c95475}{72}" paraid="1289719577" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW180776956 BCX0" paraeid="{81da98ae-10cf-408f-83d6-01fce6c95475}{72}" paraid="1289719577" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">Perfect for someone I know that might actually get some use out of this little multi tool designed to look like a snowflake. It even comes in a little decorative box and </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">actually</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"> fit</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">s</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"> into a stocking.</span><span class="EOP SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW180776956 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: start; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180776956 BCX0" paraeid="{81da98ae-10cf-408f-83d6-01fce6c95475}{92}" paraid="822917838" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW180776956 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: start; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180776956 BCX0" paraeid="{81da98ae-10cf-408f-83d6-01fce6c95475}{94}" paraid="925366437" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">This year I decided not to wait until Christmas Eve to get everything done, and so when I came across this site - </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><a href="https://santatool.com/">santatool</a> - </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">advertising on Facebook, I was</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">,</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"> at first</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">,</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"> a little wary, as I am of most sites that advertise on social media.</span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW180776956 BCX0" paraeid="{81da98ae-10cf-408f-83d6-01fce6c95475}{94}" paraid="925366437" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW180776956 BCX0" paraeid="{81da98ae-10cf-408f-83d6-01fce6c95475}{94}" paraid="925366437" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">Looking up which</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"> </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><a href="https://snowflake-tools.com/">Company</a> they appear to be under the umbrella of, i</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">t appears they might </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">run</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"> a bona fide business. So then I look at all the comments. I see the </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">moderator, who goes</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">by</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"> the names ‘</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun SpellingErrorV2 SCXW180776956 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; background-image: url("data:image/svg+xml;base64,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"); background-position: 0% 100%; background-repeat: repeat-x; border-bottom: 1px solid transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Santatool</span></span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">’ and <span style="color: #6aa84f;">Santascrape</span> very kindly takes the time to answer </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">the</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"> most perfect questions any company could ever hope to be asked </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">from a marketing perspective </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">and </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">subsequently </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">responds with the most perfect answers we all </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">would like</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"> to hear–including an assurance that delivery would be made before Christmas. </span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW180776956 BCX0" paraeid="{81da98ae-10cf-408f-83d6-01fce6c95475}{94}" paraid="925366437" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW180776956 BCX0" paraeid="{81da98ae-10cf-408f-83d6-01fce6c95475}{94}" paraid="925366437" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">In fact, </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">the confirmation stated </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">it would only be 2–5 days </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">by DHL </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">as they (apparently) have manufacturing and distributing facilities in Canada</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"> – where I am – as well the US </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">&</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"> Australia. </span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW180776956 BCX0" paraeid="{81da98ae-10cf-408f-83d6-01fce6c95475}{94}" paraid="925366437" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW180776956 BCX0" paraeid="{81da98ae-10cf-408f-83d6-01fce6c95475}{94}" paraid="925366437" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">So I think </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">to myself, I think, </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">well, it seems safe enough.</span><span class="EOP SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW180776956 BCX0" paraeid="{81da98ae-10cf-408f-83d6-01fce6c95475}{94}" paraid="925366437" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="EOP SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><br /></span></span></p><h3 style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: center; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: red;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">I couldn’t have been more wrong.</span><span class="EOP SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></h3><p class="Paragraph SCXW180776956 BCX0" paraeid="{81da98ae-10cf-408f-83d6-01fce6c95475}{94}" paraid="925366437" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="EOP SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><br /></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW180776956 BCX0" paraeid="{81da98ae-10cf-408f-83d6-01fce6c95475}{94}" paraid="925366437" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px;"><span class="EOP SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cMZB59yNCcI/X-veAVozwCI/AAAAAAAABqs/x3ge5wUdq4MHIXY_0aFmqNSTHERaFbszQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1070/Screenshot%2B2020-12-21%2Bat%2B4.24.02%2BPM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="516" data-original-width="1070" height="309" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cMZB59yNCcI/X-veAVozwCI/AAAAAAAABqs/x3ge5wUdq4MHIXY_0aFmqNSTHERaFbszQCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h309/Screenshot%2B2020-12-21%2Bat%2B4.24.02%2BPM.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 16px; text-align: start;"> </span><span style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Facebook message, this time about santascrape, from another unsuspecting customer.</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW180776956 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: start; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180776956 BCX0" paraeid="{81da98ae-10cf-408f-83d6-01fce6c95475}{170}" paraid="1665487623" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW180776956 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: start; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180776956 BCX0" paraeid="{81da98ae-10cf-408f-83d6-01fce6c95475}{176}" paraid="1886936692" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW180776956 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: start; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180776956 BCX0" paraeid="{81da98ae-10cf-408f-83d6-01fce6c95475}{178}" paraid="1706565543" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">Against </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">the</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"> better judgement</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"> I would usually exercise,</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"> I bought the </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun SpellingErrorV2 SCXW180776956 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; background-image: url("data:image/svg+xml;base64,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"); background-position: 0% 100%; background-repeat: repeat-x; border-bottom: 1px solid transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">santatool...</span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">but only </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">because it wasn’t like </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">I was making a</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"> major </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">purchase about which I would be a lot more sceptical of sending large amounts of money to...</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"> </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">after which </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">a message popped up to inform me</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">I'd unlocked a special deal for a</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">nother tool–a </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun SpellingErrorV2 SCXW180776956 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; background-image: url("data:image/svg+xml;base64,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"); background-position: 0% 100%; background-repeat: repeat-x; border-bottom: 1px solid transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><a href="https://santascrape.com/products/santascrape" target="_blank">santascrape</a></span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"> used to de-</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">ice </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">your </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">vehicle</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">’s windscreen. <i>Yay, score</i>! The video, and again, the comments, look great, so </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">I also decided to purchase</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"> this neat little thing as</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"> a stocking stuffer for another friend.</span><span class="EOP SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW180776956 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: start; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180776956 BCX0" paraeid="{81da98ae-10cf-408f-83d6-01fce6c95475}{238}" paraid="152481803" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW180776956 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: start; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180776956 BCX0" paraeid="{81da98ae-10cf-408f-83d6-01fce6c95475}{240}" paraid="1149654509" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">Altogether they cost j</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">ust shy of </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">Cad$30</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">.00. <i>N</i></span><i><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">ot bad for a couple of little </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">stocking stuffers</span></i><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">, I thought, very pleased with myself</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"> that I wouldn’t have to go out any more than I needed to in a Covid infected world.</span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW180776956 BCX0" paraeid="{81da98ae-10cf-408f-83d6-01fce6c95475}{240}" paraid="1149654509" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW180776956 BCX0" paraeid="{81da98ae-10cf-408f-83d6-01fce6c95475}{240}" paraid="1149654509" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">Duly, </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">I received an email confirming both orders with a link to track </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">them</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">–but not through DHL as one might expect, and which is <i>always</i> suspect. No, this 'tracking' was only on </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun SpellingErrorV2 SCXW180776956 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; background-image: url("data:image/svg+xml;base64,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"); background-position: 0% 100%; background-repeat: repeat-x; border-bottom: 1px solid transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Santatool</span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun SpellingErrorV2 SCXW180776956 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; background-image: url("data:image/svg+xml;base64,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"); background-position: 0% 100%; background-repeat: repeat-x; border-bottom: 1px solid transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">’</span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun SpellingErrorV2 SCXW180776956 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; background-image: url("data:image/svg+xml;base64,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"); background-position: 0% 100%; background-repeat: repeat-x; border-bottom: 1px solid transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">s</span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">own </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">website. They said it would arrive between 16</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 9.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun Superscript SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-fontsize="12" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: super;">th</span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"> and 20</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 9.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun Superscript SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-fontsize="12" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: super;">th</span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"> December.</span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW180776956 BCX0" paraeid="{81da98ae-10cf-408f-83d6-01fce6c95475}{240}" paraid="1149654509" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><i><br /></i></span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW180776956 BCX0" paraeid="{81da98ae-10cf-408f-83d6-01fce6c95475}{240}" paraid="1149654509" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><i>Cool</i>, I thought. <i>Very efficient. True to what they assured customers about on their Facebook post</i></span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><i>s.</i></span></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW180776956 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: start; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180776956 BCX0" paraeid="{e38ed2d9-fbaf-4b04-ad25-aaf6d6744613}{33}" paraid="269482885" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW180776956 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: start; user-select: text;"><h3 style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: center; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: red; font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">Again, I couldn’t have been more wrong.</span><span class="EOP SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></h3></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW180776956 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: start; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180776956 BCX0" paraeid="{e38ed2d9-fbaf-4b04-ad25-aaf6d6744613}{39}" paraid="760063685" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180776956" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: start; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180776956 BCX0" paraeid="{e38ed2d9-fbaf-4b04-ad25-aaf6d6744613}{41}" paraid="2125894470" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">I checked the tracking every day</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">; a page stating</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">the items were</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"> out for delivery–until it didn’t, and that </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">message</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"> was replaced by the most ridiculously specific excuse I have ever seen from any company. </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">A message,</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"> </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">I feel, is purely intended to give people <i>all</i> the feels</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"> to make them not complain</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"> when products bought for Christmas didn’t show up anywhere near the promised delivery times</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">. </span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW180776956 BCX0" paraeid="{e38ed2d9-fbaf-4b04-ad25-aaf6d6744613}{41}" paraid="2125894470" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW180776956 BCX0" paraeid="{e38ed2d9-fbaf-4b04-ad25-aaf6d6744613}{41}" paraid="2125894470" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">"Oh that poor driver, puts it all into perspective doesn't it?" One can just hear the most gullible say.</span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW180776956 BCX0" paraeid="{e38ed2d9-fbaf-4b04-ad25-aaf6d6744613}{41}" paraid="2125894470" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW180776956 BCX0" paraeid="{e38ed2d9-fbaf-4b04-ad25-aaf6d6744613}{41}" paraid="2125894470" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: center; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: red; font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180776956 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-GB">(I wonder how many times they’ve used this over the years?)</span></span></p><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW135603848" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p aria-level="2" class="Paragraph SCXW135603848 BCX0" paraeid="{e38ed2d9-fbaf-4b04-ad25-aaf6d6744613}{69}" paraid="773170422" role="heading" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: center; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW135603848" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW135603848 BCX0" paraeid="{e38ed2d9-fbaf-4b04-ad25-aaf6d6744613}{99}" paraid="498816279" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: center; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VXvHrhvmJPw/X-vXxb85QGI/AAAAAAAABmM/bS7HwOgeTnov9O7shbtax1pa88N-l0aoQCLcBGAsYHQ/s2204/Screenshot%2B2020-12-23%2Bat%2B6.25.26%2BPM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="920" data-original-width="2204" height="268" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VXvHrhvmJPw/X-vXxb85QGI/AAAAAAAABmM/bS7HwOgeTnov9O7shbtax1pa88N-l0aoQCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h268/Screenshot%2B2020-12-23%2Bat%2B6.25.26%2BPM.png" width="640" /></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><p class="Paragraph SCXW135603848 BCX0" paraeid="{e38ed2d9-fbaf-4b04-ad25-aaf6d6744613}{99}" paraid="498816279" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: center; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="EOP SCXW135603848 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"335551550":2,"335551620":2}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW177330040" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{e38ed2d9-fbaf-4b04-ad25-aaf6d6744613}{109}" paraid="104530061" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">Needless to say, I found it laughable that, even if</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> it </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">were true (and you can make your own mind up about that</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> message) r</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">egardless, I mean... w</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">hat </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"><i>professional</i> </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">company would actually write such a thing on </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">their so-called </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">tracking?</span><span class="EOP SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW177330040" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{e38ed2d9-fbaf-4b04-ad25-aaf6d6744613}{135}" paraid="1134205010" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW177330040" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{e38ed2d9-fbaf-4b04-ad25-aaf6d6744613}{139}" paraid="1330702155" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">In my mind, and not because I can </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">(normally) detect </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">suspicious behaviour a mile away,</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">I don’t believe a <i>word</i> of it. What I </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"><i>personally</i> </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">believe is that Santatool's promise to deliver before Christmas</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> is a ruse to get people to buy. And people throughout the Facebook ad comments asked, “<span style="color: #ff00fe;">will this be delivered in time for Christmas</span>?” to which they are told not to worry, it will be there on time. Delivery 2 – 5 days.</span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{e38ed2d9-fbaf-4b04-ad25-aaf6d6744613}{139}" paraid="1330702155" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="EOP SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{e38ed2d9-fbaf-4b04-ad25-aaf6d6744613}{139}" paraid="1330702155" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: center; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: red; font-family: inherit;"><span class="EOP SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><b><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">Yaaay. . . </span><i><span style="font-size: x-large;">Not</span></i><span style="font-size: x-large;">!</span></b></span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{e38ed2d9-fbaf-4b04-ad25-aaf6d6744613}{139}" paraid="1330702155" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: center; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: red; font-family: inherit;"><span class="EOP SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b></span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{e38ed2d9-fbaf-4b04-ad25-aaf6d6744613}{139}" paraid="1330702155" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: center; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: red; font-size: medium;"><b>(Update:) So, now it is the last week in January, and the Shopify page that took me to 'tracking' (above) and the chat box that appeared on that page no longer exists (screenshots of the chats I had below) but rest assured, I will be keeping an eye on whatever site(s) appears Christmas 2021. This is what the link they sent me leads to now (I thought about buying the domain myself to throw... well... a <i>spanner...</i> in their works (see what I did there?). We'll see....</b></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{e38ed2d9-fbaf-4b04-ad25-aaf6d6744613}{139}" paraid="1330702155" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: center; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: red; font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{e38ed2d9-fbaf-4b04-ad25-aaf6d6744613}{139}" paraid="1330702155" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: center; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: red; font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XAWMhetPIuU/YAt5obEG1uI/AAAAAAAABsU/T9xIQF4HZMc-45sxR-e052W5wGRvAaK3QCLcBGAsYHQ/s2669/Screenshot%2B2021-01-22%2Bat%2B5.15.19%2BPM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1178" data-original-width="2669" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XAWMhetPIuU/YAt5obEG1uI/AAAAAAAABsU/T9xIQF4HZMc-45sxR-e052W5wGRvAaK3QCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Screenshot%2B2021-01-22%2Bat%2B5.15.19%2BPM.png" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="color: red; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 10.5pt;"> </span></span></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW177330040 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{e38ed2d9-fbaf-4b04-ad25-aaf6d6744613}{163}" paraid="1464481380" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">Now, these items are no good to me after Christmas. They <i>are </i>intended as<i> </i>stocking stuffers</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> after all</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">. I bought them in good faith based on the assurance they would arrive before Christmas. I ordered in very good time on 13</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 8pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"><span class="NormalTextRun Superscript SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-fontsize="10.5" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: super;">th</span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> December</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">. Even if they were to be a little late, it wouldn’t matter.</span><span class="EOP SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> Sh!t happens. I get it.</span></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW177330040 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{e38ed2d9-fbaf-4b04-ad25-aaf6d6744613}{179}" paraid="860873909" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW177330040 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{e38ed2d9-fbaf-4b04-ad25-aaf6d6744613}{183}" paraid="1191089791" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">But it begs the obvious question; why </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">these items are now</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> taking up to an entire month to get here</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> even if that poor driver <i>was</i> killed?</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> Why don’t they just send replacements in</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> another</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> 2–5 days?</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> Isn't there a driver who <i>wasn't</i> killed? </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">The reason of course, in my opinion, is that they </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">were </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"><i>always</i> intended to take a month–if </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">they would even <i>ever</i> arrive at all</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">.</span><span class="EOP SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW177330040 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{e38ed2d9-fbaf-4b04-ad25-aaf6d6744613}{213}" paraid="1349856504" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW177330040 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{e38ed2d9-fbaf-4b04-ad25-aaf6d6744613}{217}" paraid="630346814" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">T</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">heir</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> listed ‘head</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> office</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">’</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">, of course, </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">is</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> in China. No surprise there, really. And I rather suspect </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">there is </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">no facility in <i>any</i> of the countries they mentio</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">n. I suspect</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> because if people knew </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">these items were</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">being shipped <i>from</i></span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> China, cheapo </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">novelties</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> like these couldn’t possibly be expedited across the world in a matter of days.</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> It just wouldn’t make financial sense.</span><span class="EOP SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> The 'slow boat to China' saying suddenly makes sense – or in this case, <i>from </i>China<i>.</i></span></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW177330040 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{bfc8b8ce-d9f9-45cd-9a0b-f3e4d4bf54ef}{4}" paraid="1532998546" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW177330040 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{bfc8b8ce-d9f9-45cd-9a0b-f3e4d4bf54ef}{8}" paraid="407098070" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">But anyway, still working on</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> the </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">fake </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">2–5 days delivery </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">premise. If they’re going to take a month, then I can simply cancel and get a refund</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">. <i>Ri</i></span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"><i>gh</i></span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"><i>t</i>? T</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">hey obviously haven’t sent them ye</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">t. <i>R</i></span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"><i>ight</i>? But of course, that is </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"><i>much</i></span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> too</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> logical when dealing with a cowboy outfit like this one appears to be.</span><span class="EOP SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW177330040 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{bfc8b8ce-d9f9-45cd-9a0b-f3e4d4bf54ef}{40}" paraid="1837965633" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW177330040 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{bfc8b8ce-d9f9-45cd-9a0b-f3e4d4bf54ef}{44}" paraid="281650529" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">So,</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">I </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">employ the use of </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">their chatbot </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">which </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">states</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> I would </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">normally</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> receive a reply in a matter of hours. I think</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">; </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">cool, </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">they’re busy, </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">maybe at the driver’s funeral or something? </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">I can wait</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">.</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">But then</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> the entire day goes by</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">.</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> I send more messages</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">. </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">I send emails</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">. N</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">o reply. Zilch. I then decide to comment on their Facebook post to warn others that everything</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> they are being told there by Santatool </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">may not be as promised. Dunno why... just a feeling really.</span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{bfc8b8ce-d9f9-45cd-9a0b-f3e4d4bf54ef}{44}" paraid="281650529" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"><br /></span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{bfc8b8ce-d9f9-45cd-9a0b-f3e4d4bf54ef}{44}" paraid="281650529" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">That’s when </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">I notice t</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">hat t</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">hose perfect email questions all sound oddly similar... you know... just the </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">right</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> kind of questions... albeit to my</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> suspicious</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> mind </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">seeming</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> a little manufactured. Many comments </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">have</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> the same slight misuse of English grammar that Santatool & Santascrape</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">use in their </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">various r</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">esponses to people on their Facebook ads.</span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{bfc8b8ce-d9f9-45cd-9a0b-f3e4d4bf54ef}{44}" paraid="281650529" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"><br /></span></span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{bfc8b8ce-d9f9-45cd-9a0b-f3e4d4bf54ef}{44}" paraid="281650529" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">(</span><span style="color: #800180;"><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">Now, I can’t quite work out how they can have so many different Facebook users commenting</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> if that were the case,</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> as when I </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">look </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">in-depth</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">into some, they </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">do </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">seem to be older accounts with what appear to be genuine posts</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">–unless of course I was just really unlucky and chose genuine comments to look into from people who</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">’ve </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">received these </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">items</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> in the past or there is some way to make it look genuine, like people on Twitter do to appear to have more followers). Nonetheless, that's beside the point.</span></span></span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{bfc8b8ce-d9f9-45cd-9a0b-f3e4d4bf54ef}{44}" paraid="281650529" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 10.5pt;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW177330040 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{bfc8b8ce-d9f9-45cd-9a0b-f3e4d4bf54ef}{170}" paraid="922473274" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">There are absolutely incredible reviews on that Facebook post</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">, though.</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">Even </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">one person drowning in a car who didn’t need any strength at all to use this small santatool to </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">easily </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">smash the window and escape. (Have you ever seen videos of people trying to do that? Like, for real? Apparently, it's quite impossible). But hey, this kind commenter on Facebook just tapped the glass, no less. </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">Wow! </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">Good for them. <span style="color: red;">Thank you santatool!</span> Well worth the $20.00 they spent. We should <i>all</i> keep one of these things in the car in case Google maps goes a little psycho, drives us into a lake, over the ocean or a windy cliff.</span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{bfc8b8ce-d9f9-45cd-9a0b-f3e4d4bf54ef}{170}" paraid="922473274" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"><br /></span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{bfc8b8ce-d9f9-45cd-9a0b-f3e4d4bf54ef}{170}" paraid="922473274" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">Others have ordered <i>multiple</i> tools, can you believe? I couldn't. <i>5 & 6</i> of them even</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">. That’s how <i>fantastic</i> these things must be. S</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">ome </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">people </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">say they want even <i>more</i> to </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">keep handy</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> all over </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">the</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> house because you'll never know when you'll need one. To boot, the people who received them as gifts are</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">, apparently, </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">positively orgasmic over them. It really <i>is</i> the best Christmas ever, and it's all due to these tiny little novelty tools. Why spend money on <i>anything</i> else ever again?Maybe Santa himself enchanted these gadgets at the North Pole? Who knows for sure? Magic <i>is</i> real, after all... well, according to my 10yr old nephew.</span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{bfc8b8ce-d9f9-45cd-9a0b-f3e4d4bf54ef}{170}" paraid="922473274" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"><br /></span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{bfc8b8ce-d9f9-45cd-9a0b-f3e4d4bf54ef}{170}" paraid="922473274" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">But you know what… my </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">less than complimentary </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">comments were deleted within a minute. (If only they</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">’</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">d been that quick to respond on their chatbot, or to one of my</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> many</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> emails. But still, </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">they were probably grieving the driver’s untimely demise and the loss of all the products </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">they said got</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> smashed on his truck).</span><span class="EOP SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW177330040 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{bfc8b8ce-d9f9-45cd-9a0b-f3e4d4bf54ef}{234}" paraid="1633944528" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW177330040 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{bfc8b8ce-d9f9-45cd-9a0b-f3e4d4bf54ef}{238}" paraid="821781493" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">I thought it strange, though, reading through all these amazing comments, that while there were some angry face emoticons, there was no negative comments to accompany them</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">.</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">Emoticons can’t be deleted, which sucks for </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">Santatool</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">, but it also made me realise that I </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">have</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> wondered about this before with other </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">sponsored </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">ads</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> on Facebook.</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> Why so many angry emoticons</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">,</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> but only positive comments? Now I know... and so do you. </span></span><span style="font-size: 14px; font-variant-ligatures: none;">They're simply deleted.</span><span style="font-size: 14px; font-variant-ligatures: none;"> </span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{bfc8b8ce-d9f9-45cd-9a0b-f3e4d4bf54ef}{238}" paraid="821781493" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 14px; font-variant-ligatures: none;"><br /></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{bfc8b8ce-d9f9-45cd-9a0b-f3e4d4bf54ef}{238}" paraid="821781493" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">The moderator, '<span style="color: #6aa84f;">Santatool</span>' and undoubtedly simultaneously '<span style="color: #93c47d;">Santascrape</span>', </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">obviously</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> gets rid of any comment that expose</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">s</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> what are most likely lies </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">in my opinion, as are any</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> poor reviews–such as the usually congenial santa/tool/scrape moderator apparently did with my own comments, and even that of one lady who was also asking if they’d be delivered for Christmas who thanked me for letting her know</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> because she actually got to see my message before it vanished from all existence. </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">(Glad I helped at </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">least</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> one person from being scammed with regard to delivery times).</span><span class="EOP SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{bfc8b8ce-d9f9-45cd-9a0b-f3e4d4bf54ef}{238}" paraid="821781493" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px;"><span class="EOP SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9ebgTUgOYns/X-vY4RWNI5I/AAAAAAAABmU/WH2K6SbYejYTeXV6jLzZoXtdPuHgja0ugCLcBGAsYHQ/s1136/Screenshot%2B2020-12-21%2Bat%2B4.22.37%2BPM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="518" data-original-width="1136" height="183" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9ebgTUgOYns/X-vY4RWNI5I/AAAAAAAABmU/WH2K6SbYejYTeXV6jLzZoXtdPuHgja0ugCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h183/Screenshot%2B2020-12-21%2Bat%2B4.22.37%2BPM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Typical of the question asked about delivery, and the response.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW177330040 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{a0fd773c-a632-4e9e-9516-72aec393cc09}{43}" paraid="1044031194" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: center; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 14px; font-variant-ligatures: none;"><span style="color: red;">But then... two can play at the deletion game....</span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{a0fd773c-a632-4e9e-9516-72aec393cc09}{43}" paraid="1044031194" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 14px; font-variant-ligatures: none;"><br /></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW177330040 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{a0fd773c-a632-4e9e-9516-72aec393cc09}{47}" paraid="309278009" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">In terms of </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">actual</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> delivery, I can’t speak to that as of course I never received these items. Regardless, like I said, they are cancelled as far as I'm concerned. I want</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">ed </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">my money back,</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> but also wanted to express my dissatisfaction as a matter of principal and not just with <span style="color: #6aa84f;">santatool/scrape</span>. </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">Why <i>do</i> Facebook and other sites allow these sites to advertise? (I </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">was</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> in touch with Facebook about </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">S</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">antatool</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">, and while they thanked me for reporting them, and said I was entirely right to, we all know Facebook don’t really care). Still, it wasn’t enough. I hated the appalling lack of customer service from <span style="color: #6aa84f;">santatool/scrape</span>, and I needed to have it out with them. I just hate stuff like that and my OCD disposition just won't do an Elsa and 'let it go'. </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; color: #800180; font-size: xx-small; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">(I never watched that movie incidentally, so hopefully the reference is accurate enough).</span></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW177330040 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{a0fd773c-a632-4e9e-9516-72aec393cc09}{75}" paraid="724058003" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW177330040 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{a0fd773c-a632-4e9e-9516-72aec393cc09}{79}" paraid="1202934635" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">I spent another day sending messages through the </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">chatbot</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">as well sending</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> emails,</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> but </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">still</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> received</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> no response <i>whatsoever</i>. I assured <span style="color: #6aa84f;">santatool/scrape</span> I was not going away, and I started sending any message at all to get their attention</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> until </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">finally someone did </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">respond</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">. Nice as pie</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">: </span><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: xx-small;"><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">(although I think it might have been the mention of Trump that did it).</span><span class="EOP SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW177330040 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{a0fd773c-a632-4e9e-9516-72aec393cc09}{111}" paraid="1508293364" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW177330040 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{a0fd773c-a632-4e9e-9516-72aec393cc09}{115}" paraid="1552993483" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">“</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">Hi, </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">S </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">how</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> are you doing today?” (or something to that effect).</span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{a0fd773c-a632-4e9e-9516-72aec393cc09}{115}" paraid="1552993483" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="EOP SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{a0fd773c-a632-4e9e-9516-72aec393cc09}{115}" paraid="1552993483" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">The nicety, </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">despite the fact someone calling themselves 'John Louis' can see all my </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">many </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">previous messages demanding a refund as well my messages about Taisha, the Bachelorette.</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> And i</span><span style="font-size: 14px;">f you're so inclined, or bored, you can read </span><i style="font-size: 14px;">all</i><span style="font-size: 14px;"> the screenshot messages of how I decided to bug this company into answering me at the bottom of this page). </span><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: x-small;">(Right now I don't have the time to format these into some neat little orderly pile... but I will, <i>eventually</i>. I published this given that the company actually had the gall to email me to ask if I have done yet what I threatened five days ago when I told them my next move would be to flood social media, starting with a blog post).</span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{a0fd773c-a632-4e9e-9516-72aec393cc09}{115}" paraid="1552993483" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></p><div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW177330040 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{a0fd773c-a632-4e9e-9516-72aec393cc09}{133}" paraid="972890488" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">Long story short, though, </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">I</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">then </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">explained in civil terms I wanted</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> a refund for their failure to hold up their end of our agreement.</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">T</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">hey gave no excuse</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">;</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> simply stating </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">I</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">had a</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">greed to </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">their</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> policies</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> by using their company and that refunds are only given after the customer receives the product.</span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{a0fd773c-a632-4e9e-9516-72aec393cc09}{133}" paraid="972890488" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"><br /></span></span></p><h3 style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: center; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: red; font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"><b><i>Wtf</i>? I mean, like... wt <i>actual</i> F?</b></span></span></h3><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{a0fd773c-a632-4e9e-9516-72aec393cc09}{133}" paraid="972890488" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"><br /></span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{a0fd773c-a632-4e9e-9516-72aec393cc09}{133}" paraid="972890488" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">I</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> informed them that terms and conditions like theirs </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">do</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">not</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">form </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">a legal contrac</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">t</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">. </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">(</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">Companies can state </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">they</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> demand your first born or your soul in exchange for a bar of soap <i>all</i> they like if they wanna</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">, but it’s not legally binding)</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">.</span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{a0fd773c-a632-4e9e-9516-72aec393cc09}{133}" paraid="972890488" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"><br /></span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{a0fd773c-a632-4e9e-9516-72aec393cc09}{133}" paraid="972890488" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">S</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">antatool did not live up to </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">their</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> end of the agreement–in that they promised Christmas themed items delivered </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">to me </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">prior <i>to</i> Christmas and therefore anything they </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">think</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> they may have legally </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">under</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">written on their website to counteract any kind of claim <i>would</i> be null and void – even</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">if it </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">were</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> a legal </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">contract–which, again I stress it is <i>not</i>–and which my credit card company entirely agreed with so as to promptly refund me, they failed to live up to <i>their</i> end.</span><span class="EOP SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{a0fd773c-a632-4e9e-9516-72aec393cc09}{133}" paraid="972890488" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="EOP SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><br /></span></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW177330040 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{a0fd773c-a632-4e9e-9516-72aec393cc09}{249}" paraid="950590334" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">It is clear to me personally that this company </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">simply </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">take advantage of us at Christmas</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">, and, I suspect, throughout the year with whatever other products they hock. As far as I can see, they </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">spew lies and </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">mislead unsuspecting consumers </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">with false information that this 'company' if indeed that's what we are dealing with here, knows they want to hear, but with no intention of following through</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">.</span><span class="EOP SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW177330040 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{c4bac535-31e3-4460-9099-c20f7b17055f}{14}" paraid="935792170" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW177330040 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{c4bac535-31e3-4460-9099-c20f7b17055f}{18}" paraid="401877991" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">I warned </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">Santatool</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> I will do everything in my power to inform </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">possible future consumers</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> of </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">my experience with </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">their practises, not only </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">for </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">this year, but for perpetuity, with the help of modern technology – social media</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> and the use of tools like </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">metatags </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">which would </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">easily </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">be </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">picked up by </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">Google from anyone doing a</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> search for their products in the future</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> (</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">such as </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">how </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">you</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">might have found this page?</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">)</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">. </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">But I guess they </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">didn’t</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> believe me.</span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{c4bac535-31e3-4460-9099-c20f7b17055f}{18}" paraid="401877991" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"><br /></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{c4bac535-31e3-4460-9099-c20f7b17055f}{18}" paraid="401877991" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">However, can you believe "John Louis" (if indeed that is his real name, and incidentally, differing only from the John Lewis department store in London by the removal of a vowel and the insertion on a consonant? ) even emailed me after five days of silence for my part enjoying my time off for Christmas knowing I have my refund already, but not actually forgetting my promise, to ask if I actually followed through?</span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{c4bac535-31e3-4460-9099-c20f7b17055f}{18}" paraid="401877991" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"><i><br /></i></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{c4bac535-31e3-4460-9099-c20f7b17055f}{18}" paraid="401877991" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"><i>Wow</i>! I guess they felt a little smug that I had made just an empty threat? Nah... I don't make them. They don't know me, even though I told them at the time they don't know me, but if they did... <i>well then</i>.... I'm one of those people who <i>can</i> hold a grudge for eternity. </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">(Not to say I always <i>do</i>, just that I <i>can, but I will in this case)</i>.</span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{c4bac535-31e3-4460-9099-c20f7b17055f}{18}" paraid="401877991" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"><br /></span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{c4bac535-31e3-4460-9099-c20f7b17055f}{18}" paraid="401877991" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-size: 12px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6usvo6l28CI/X-vbaf_dkSI/AAAAAAAABqQ/MHXz8CbFV2cjnVo3JT-yeyv5YW4GeVNmwCLcBGAsYHQ/s840/Screenshot%2B2020-12-29%2Bat%2B5.43.29%2BPM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="518" data-original-width="840" height="246" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6usvo6l28CI/X-vbaf_dkSI/AAAAAAAABqQ/MHXz8CbFV2cjnVo3JT-yeyv5YW4GeVNmwCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h246/Screenshot%2B2020-12-29%2Bat%2B5.43.29%2BPM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">How not to interact with a dissatisfied customer</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><h3 style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red;">I GUESS YOU HAVE YOUR ANSWER NOW, YOU COMPLETE TOSSER.</span></h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"></span></div><p></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{c4bac535-31e3-4460-9099-c20f7b17055f}{18}" paraid="401877991" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="EOP SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Ahem... <i>anyhoo</i>....</span></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW177330040 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{c4bac535-31e3-4460-9099-c20f7b17055f}{92}" paraid="717860151" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW177330040 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{c4bac535-31e3-4460-9099-c20f7b17055f}{96}" paraid="649267443" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">How professional is that? </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; color: #2b00fe; font-size: xx-small; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">(Re: their comment, not mine!)</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> Judge for yourself if this is a company you want to send </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">your</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> money to.</span><span class="EOP SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW177330040 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{c4bac535-31e3-4460-9099-c20f7b17055f}{106}" paraid="2135057241" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW177330040 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{c4bac535-31e3-4460-9099-c20f7b17055f}{110}" paraid="609343773" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">Of course, I was <i>always</i> going to post this blog, and perhaps this completely unprofessional cowboy outfit underestimate the damage a little post like this can do, but <span style="color: red;">trust me</span>, while I don’t use this blog much at all, having removed the many posts I wrote over the years, I do nonetheless see the thousands of visitors that viewed the page I wrote for the last company that 'done me wrong'. I guess blogging is still useful for <i>some</i> things.</span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{c4bac535-31e3-4460-9099-c20f7b17055f}{110}" paraid="609343773" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"><br /></span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{c4bac535-31e3-4460-9099-c20f7b17055f}{110}" paraid="609343773" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">'Metatags' and 'labels' are wonderful little tools – even more useful than the santatool I would wager - and what is even <i>more</i> wonderful is that as they crawl the labyrinths of the Internet, infusing themselves into the nooks and crannies of the ones and zeroes like little mini viruses gaining findability momentum throughout the search engines. How <i>great</i> is that?</span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{c4bac535-31e3-4460-9099-c20f7b17055f}{110}" paraid="609343773" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"><span style="color: red;"><br /></span></span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{c4bac535-31e3-4460-9099-c20f7b17055f}{110}" paraid="609343773" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: center; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"><span style="color: red;">Just in time for next Christmas, and the one after that, and the one after that….</span></span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{c4bac535-31e3-4460-9099-c20f7b17055f}{110}" paraid="609343773" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: center; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"><span style="color: red;"><br /></span></span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{c4bac535-31e3-4460-9099-c20f7b17055f}{110}" paraid="609343773" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: left; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">So whether you read blogs or not, this post, in the future, will surface like a corpse in the Dead Sea for anyone searching either for santatool or santascrape.</span><span class="EOP SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> It will rise right to the top.</span></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW177330040 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: left; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{c4bac535-31e3-4460-9099-c20f7b17055f}{116}" paraid="972553120" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW177330040 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{c4bac535-31e3-4460-9099-c20f7b17055f}{120}" paraid="1268192006" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: left; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">Incidentally, here’s a </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"><a href="https://the-flake.com/pages/contact-us" target="_blank">site</a></span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">(I don’t </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"><span style="font-variant-ligatures: none;">believe</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-variant-ligatures: none;"> i</span></span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">s part of the same company) </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">that sells the exact same thing. What I like about them is that they're actually honest about the amount of time they take to send these items. How <i>refreshing</i> is that? </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">Also, n</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">ot that I </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">overly </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">encourage </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">buying from </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">Amazon, but you <i>can</i> purchase the</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">se items</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> on there as well,</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> and you can (mostly) trust </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">their</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> delivery time.</span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{c4bac535-31e3-4460-9099-c20f7b17055f}{120}" paraid="1268192006" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: left; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"><br /></span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{c4bac535-31e3-4460-9099-c20f7b17055f}{120}" paraid="1268192006" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: left; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">Interesting though, that </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">the reviews on Amazon, as opposed to </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"><span class="NormalTextRun SpellingErrorV2 SCXW177330040 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; background-image: url("data:image/svg+xml;base64,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"); background-position: 0% 100%; background-repeat: repeat-x; border-bottom: 1px solid transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Santatool's</span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> Facebook ad, are not quite as glowing; many saying there that the tool is mostly useless for anything other than serving as a keyring; the dimensions are off.</span><span class="EOP SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> I also saw many, <i>many</i> sites where this novelty item is offered for much, much cheaper than santatool's site. You might wanna check out your options, because the price you pay through Santatool, is, apparently, costed into this much cheaper than they advertise gadget.</span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{c4bac535-31e3-4460-9099-c20f7b17055f}{120}" paraid="1268192006" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: center; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: red; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><span class="EOP SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><br /></span></span></p><h3 style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: center; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: red; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><span class="EOP SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Ain't no such thing as free shipping.</span></span></h3></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW177330040 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-size: medium; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{c4bac535-31e3-4460-9099-c20f7b17055f}{185}" paraid="1171769916" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW177330040 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p style="background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: left; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">Finally, if you dig deep and look into </span><a class="Hyperlink SCXW177330040 BCX0" href="https://snowflake-tools.com/" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; user-select: text;" target="_blank"><span class="TextRun Underlined SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: underline; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-ccp-charstyle="Hyperlink" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">https://snowflake-tools.com/</span></span></a><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> – which appears to be the 'parent company' for Santatool/scrape and look at their general shipping info not advertised on their offshoot sites, you will see </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">the</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> table below, where </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">nothing</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> is promised</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> with a</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"> 2–5 delivery, not even with the excess shipping charges - in fact, it takes up to 3 days to prepare items for delivery! Be warned.</span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{c4bac535-31e3-4460-9099-c20f7b17055f}{189}" paraid="1355101446" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; font-size: medium; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><span class="EOP SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{c4bac535-31e3-4460-9099-c20f7b17055f}{189}" paraid="1355101446" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; font-size: medium; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: medium; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oTIM6o96khs/X-vVhhrmebI/AAAAAAAABlg/UV2LY4n9cn8QXqRI0sO_thFoeUIYF9rWQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1624/Screenshot%2B2020-12-23%2Bat%2B6.31.23%2BPM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="594" data-original-width="1624" height="234" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oTIM6o96khs/X-vVhhrmebI/AAAAAAAABlg/UV2LY4n9cn8QXqRI0sO_thFoeUIYF9rWQCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h234/Screenshot%2B2020-12-23%2Bat%2B6.31.23%2BPM.png" width="640" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: medium; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; font-size: small; text-align: start;"> </span></div></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW177330040 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{c4bac535-31e3-4460-9099-c20f7b17055f}{216}" paraid="237945123" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; font-size: medium; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">Begs the question then... why <i><span style="color: red;">is</span></i> the congenial host, <span style="color: #6aa84f;">Santatool</span> and <span style="color: #6aa84f;">Santscrape</span> on Facebook, promising people </span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">2–5 days</span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">?</span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{c4bac535-31e3-4460-9099-c20f7b17055f}{216}" paraid="237945123" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; font-size: medium; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"><span class="NormalTextRun SpellingErrorV2 SCXW177330040 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; background-image: url("data:image/svg+xml;base64,PD94bWwgdmVyc2lvbj0iMS4wIiBlbmNvZGluZz0iVVRGLTgiPz4KPHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iNXB4IiBoZWlnaHQ9IjRweCIgdmlld0JveD0iMCAwIDUgNCIgdmVyc2lvbj0iMS4xIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHhtbG5zOnhsaW5rPSJodHRwOi8vd3d3LnczLm9yZy8xOTk5L3hsaW5rIj4KICAgIDwhLS0gR2VuZXJhdG9yOiBTa2V0Y2ggNTYuMiAoODE2NzIpIC0gaHR0cHM6Ly9za2V0Y2guY29tIC0tPgogICAgPHRpdGxlPnNwZWxsaW5nX3NxdWlnZ2xlPC90aXRsZT4KICAgIDxkZXNjPkNyZWF0ZWQgd2l0aCBTa2V0Y2guPC9kZXNjPgogICAgPGcgaWQ9IkZsYWdzIiBzdHJva2U9Im5vbmUiIHN0cm9rZS13aWR0aD0iMSIgZmlsbD0ibm9uZSIgZmlsbC1ydWxlPSJldmVub2RkIj4KICAgICAgICA8ZyB0cmFuc2Zvcm09InRyYW5zbGF0ZSgtMTAxMC4wMDAwMDAsIC0yOTYuMDAwMDAwKSIgaWQ9InNwZWxsaW5nX3NxdWlnZ2xlIj4KICAgICAgICAgICAgPGcgdHJhbnNmb3JtPSJ0cmFuc2xhdGUoMTAxMC4wMDAwMDAsIDI5Ni4wMDAwMDApIj4KICAgICAgICAgICAgICAgIDxwYXRoIGQ9Ik0wLDMgQzEuMjUsMyAxLjI1LDEgMi41LDEgQzMuNzUsMSAzLjc1LDMgNSwzIiBpZD0iUGF0aCIgc3Ryb2tlPSIjRUIwMDAwIiBzdHJva2Utd2lkdGg9IjEiPjwvcGF0aD4KICAgICAgICAgICAgICAgIDxyZWN0IGlkPSJSZWN0YW5nbGUiIHg9IjAiIHk9IjAiIHdpZHRoPSI1IiBoZWlnaHQ9IjQiPjwvcmVjdD4KICAgICAgICAgICAgPC9nPgogICAgICAgIDwvZz4KICAgIDwvZz4KPC9zdmc+"); background-position: 0% 100%; background-repeat: repeat-x; border-bottom: 1px solid transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><br /></span></span></span></p><h3 style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: center; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: red; font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"><span class="NormalTextRun SpellingErrorV2 SCXW177330040 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; background-image: url("data:image/svg+xml;base64,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"); background-position: 0% 100%; background-repeat: repeat-x; border-bottom: 1px solid transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">H</span><span style="font-size: large;">m</span><span style="font-size: medium;">m</span><span style="font-size: small;">m</span><span style="font-size: x-small;">m</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">m</span></span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: xx-large; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA">….?</span></span></h3><div><span style="color: red; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;"><span class="EOP SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: red; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;"><span class="EOP SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="EOP SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; color: #800180; font-size: x-small; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">(P.S. If these items somehow get delivered when I am not present to refuse them, Santatool need not think I will to do a single thing about helping to have them sent them back. As far as I'm concerned, they can arrange the return themselves – right down to writing the return address on the frikkin' package. I will NOT be lifting a finger to help... not <i>even</i> the little one that doesn't do much else these days - not since I stopped partying a number of years ago anyway.)</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="EOP SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; color: #800180; font-size: x-small; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Thank you, and safe shopping.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="EOP SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; color: #800180; font-size: x-small; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="EOP SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; color: #4c1130; font-size: large; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">(</span><span class="EOP SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; color: #cc0000; font-size: large; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Update</span><span class="EOP SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; color: #4c1130; font-size: large; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">: These items never did show up at my door - which just proves they were never sent, either that or the second delivery driver also met with an untimely demise!)</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="EOP SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; color: red; font-size: x-small; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="EOP SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; color: red; font-size: x-small; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Do your </span><span class="EOP SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; color: red; font-size: large; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">research</span><span class="EOP SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; color: red; font-size: x-small; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> before responding to a sponsored ad on social media.</span></span></div></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW177330040 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{c4bac535-31e3-4460-9099-c20f7b17055f}{230}" paraid="391346699" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></p></div><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{a0fd773c-a632-4e9e-9516-72aec393cc09}{115}" paraid="1552993483" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="EOP SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{a0fd773c-a632-4e9e-9516-72aec393cc09}{115}" paraid="1552993483" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="EOP SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{a0fd773c-a632-4e9e-9516-72aec393cc09}{115}" paraid="1552993483" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="EOP SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><br /></span></span></p></div></div></div></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180776956" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: start; user-select: text;"><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW135603848" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW177330040 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; 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-webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-CA" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-CA"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW177330040 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW177330040 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 17.2667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW177330040 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW177330040 BCX0" paraeid="{a0fd773c-a632-4e9e-9516-72aec393cc09}{133}" paraid="972890488" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></p></div></div></div></div>Sam Walkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01042888599773098090noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-848151707328717153.post-67555479878321787012020-04-12T20:35:00.000-07:002020-04-12T20:35:44.799-07:00Book Review: Secrets in the Shadows - Heige S Boehm<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b>Secrets in the Shadows - Heige S Boehm</b></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1sJVdWPAWdE/XpPdRwoUcuI/AAAAAAAABds/52nIRuHJuOsoSN9YNF39iu-MToJdoNPIwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Secrets%2Bin%2Bthe%2BShadows.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="332" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1sJVdWPAWdE/XpPdRwoUcuI/AAAAAAAABds/52nIRuHJuOsoSN9YNF39iu-MToJdoNPIwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Secrets%2Bin%2Bthe%2BShadows.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">The telling of this coming of age story was a rare and refreshing treat. It depicts, through a unique lens, a side of WWII from the perspective of innocent boys carried away by a false sense of glory at the prospect of serving their country–until reality sets in.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Right off the bat I was transported into the colourful village and everydayness of not just the main characters’ lives, but the storekeepers, the mailman, the farmers…. I felt the rush of excitement, wonder, anticipation and naivety of two boys eager to proudly serve their country as part of the Hitler Youth Organisation while still living in a familial environment and getting up to hijinks… until it all turns sour.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Written in English, nonetheless, one can’t help hearing the myriad of characters as being German; their dialogue authentically delightful, their innocence captured perfectly as we get a true, beautifully descriptive insight into ordinary family life as the onset of the horror of war starts to change everything.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">The beauty of the characterisation doesn’t fall short either when, inevitably, the ugly nature of otherwise regular people turned authoritarian emerges to juxtapose the sweet innocence of the story at the beginning of the book–a father, a schoolteacher and other youth whose newfound honour transforms them unrecognisably through a misguided sense of power as the story progresses and turns dreams to nightmares. A time when pride turns to prejudice, innocence to guilt, and a sense of honour, re-evaluated.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">One is impressed by the meticulous research, and indeed, an admirable list of acknowledgements indicates just how much. But more, it is evident this story has been told from the personal insight of the author through family connections, and one can just tell, an insight that is very dear to the heart.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">A wonderfully uplifting, yet heartbreaking story for young adult and older readers alike.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Get it on Amazon: <a href="https://amzn.to/2V6btlA" target="_blank">https://amzn.to/2V6btlA</a></span>Sam Walkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01042888599773098090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-848151707328717153.post-26726415459263274742013-07-12T17:08:00.000-07:002020-04-12T21:39:33.390-07:00My review of Such is Life - Jeri Walker-Bickett.<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span lang="EN-GB">I've long since admired Jeri Walker-Bickett for her dedication to writing, her professional approach to editing and her efforts at promoting the work of other Indie authors. It is my pleasure, therefore, to be able to review her short story collection - light literary pieces that are easily read in one sitting. These stories reflect on everyday events that might have a bigger impact on who we are as people, they are observational and insightful and Jeri's ability to paint the scenes with a fine-edged brush is a pleasure to read.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="color: #660000;">My Review</span>:</span></h3>
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<br />
Such is Life is an appropriate title; the stories concentrating on everyday matters that most might find insignificant in the first instance. And therein lies the skill.<br />
<br />
At first, when reading `Pretty Girl' and `Leaving Big Sky', I wondered if I was going to enjoy this collection as much as I was hoping to; becoming slightly weary of the descriptiveness of seemingly irrelevant body language, regardless of how well applied, and also because both of these stories, I thought, kind of left me hanging... wondering about the point of them... until I remembered the synopsis; this collection simply about being human - which then made me take a different view on the relevance of them and the deeper implication; the everyday actions and choices we make in life that might have some kind of bearing on who we are or what we become, but in terms of the underlying sentiment of these stories, the finer nuance of interaction between the characters, it became clear, was vital.<br />
<br />
Moving on, I then thought that descriptiveness acted as a kind of precursor for the next three stories, building up to me having an appreciation of Walker-Bickett's style - which is crisp and linear. And while also literary, one doesn't have to think too hard to engage with it; the writing, flowing well, is easily understood, this descriptiveness with more relevance to the bigger pictures - almost as if Walker-Bickett had been building momentum; merely teasing the reader at first.<br />
<br />
And as the stories became slightly more intense, darker even, I found myself thoroughly enjoying the collection. I appreciated in particular, the odd edgy scene thrown in here and there; a word or reference sticking out like a sore thumb almost juxtaposing the innocence of the writing style that I'd thus far seen, and that had me saying, `yeah... that's more like it'.<br />
<br />
Being Scottish, I found the attitude of the Mormon community in `Not Terribly Important' quite fascinating (and, incidentally, an overall southern feel to this collection, which was quite insightful for me.) Ironically though, given the loud and clear message in that story, that fiction is fiction, I couldn't help but feel, as I smiled throughout, that it seemed almost cathartic - such was the conviction of the sentiment. All in all though, it kind of made me think, such is life indeed - a brainwashed, exacting, society, whose youth, especially, seem preoccupied, excited even, with all that they are taught to hate. Humph.<br />
<br />
I was really immersed in `For the Love of a Dog', and that situation touched me a great deal. I found the characterisation far more invested - and as it was in the last piece also,`River Walk' - in that both women in the first two stories felt too similar for me to separate in my own mind. However, I felt the desperation of both respective main characters in the last two, in very different ways, and, in `For the Love of a Dog', the mentality of a pitchfork wielding society - which also had me reeling about the ridiculousness, largely, of humanity at large.<br />
<br />
Overall I enjoyed these stories, they evoked emotional responses, and I read them in one sitting.<br />
<br /></div>
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Finally, I will say that the excerpt from Walker-Bickett's upcoming novel, `Lost Girl Road' - a ghost story - held my attention (surprisingly, for me, because it is a ghost story) the style being used there - the third person omniscient point of view - my personal preference. Together with the immaculateness of her writing, I think a longer piece such as this, with the opportunity to develop characters fully, will be thoroughly enjoyable..<br />
<br />
<a href="http://jeriwb.com/">You can find out more about Jeri at her blog here</a>.</div>
<!--EndFragment-->Sam Walkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01042888599773098090noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-848151707328717153.post-63080641259219626282013-07-11T12:00:00.001-07:002020-04-12T21:39:44.746-07:00A word about 'Word'... and other words.<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span lang="EN-GB">Note to self
– Never ever publish tiny edits at midnight or thereafter – at least in the
sample chapter that’ll appear on Amazon - for what was otherwise a typo free
manuscript (yeah it was!) suddenly becomes glaringly obvious and potentially off-putting to
anyone happening along.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Such was the
case with one book this morning I noticed when I went
into see what I’d done last night – somehow another 'me' coming into existence in
the wee hours with a different opinion about everything – but the word ‘dated’
instead of ‘dared’ appearing very early on, which made absolutely no sense –
and the kind of thing that makes my heart lurch. (You can read about all the 'me's here, in this blog piece entitled <a href="http://spmount.blogspot.ca/2012_04_01_archive.html">Me, Me, Me</a>.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB">So, I mean,
where the hell is the grammar check function on Word when you <i>really</i> need it. But <i>oh-no</i>,
its too busy insisting sometimes that you change what is an otherwise perfectly
legible sentence to something utterly ridiculous (which actually I find might mean the problem
lies elsewhere; a missing comma or something and not the structure of words at
all, but still…) for despite the fact I know the programme is there mainly as a
helper, I still need to get rid of those red squiggly lines when they appear,
always bowing to Word's high and mighty f**cking superiority. Lol.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB">And is it
just me… has twelve point text become more like eight? I can barely see that anymore. I’d been typing in fourteen for the longest
time because of that and recently have had to increase that to eighteen,
having to remember to change it back to the industry standard of twelve at the
end – and once submitting a short story to a publisher without having
done so – and of course they just happened to be one of those anal
retentive types who insist that you format exactly the way they dictated or they'll bin you immediately. Frikkin’ publishers!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB">I have to
admit though, with my new version of Word, I hadn’t really explored it until
recently; thinking, ‘yeah, yeah, yeah, they probably only moved things around a
bit, nothing’s really changed’, only in the last few weeks discovering the
‘focus’ feature, which brings the document up my screen like an e-reader and
the text larger looking and very reader and edit friendly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB">There’s a
writing mode and a reader mode – although I still prefer to use eighteen-point
even in that mode as I can sit back and read and edit comfortably instead of
giving myself constant headaches like I always have with my nose pressed up
against my very bright 28inch iMac – and of which I only also just realised
that it would be a good idea to adjust the glare of to deal with that.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB">What happened
to me; I used to be so computer savvy – I was the ‘go to guy’ ‘chic geek’ in
the days when we all connected to the Internet by phone? What happened to my ability to write in
twelve-point without squinting?
Huh? Frikkin’ Word! Frikkin’ deteriorating eyesight!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB">I find though
that writing and reading my work back in Focus mode is most definitely a great
way to catch all the little errors that most people will point out to you when
they come to read it on an e-reader etc. - and, strangely enough, something I’ve
long since noticed when I’ve uploaded a piece to a writing site or whatever; a
more eye-friendly platform really changes the story, one can tell that the flow
is different; makes what might be improved outside of typos or punctuation so
much more obvious than just working in Word without the ‘focus’ feature
on. My only gripe with that mode is that it
doesn’t have that ‘show/hide’ function available – and I rely on
that for formatting.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB">I don’t even
want to know if all my previous versions of Word had this function, because if they
did and I didn’t use them, I only brought my eyestrain and migraines upon myself
all these years. And as I type, I’m also
searching for a bona-fide reason to blame Word for my tennis elbow – but if not
caused by that, certainly sitting here with such an intimate relationship with
the programme making my arm feel as if rigor mortis has set in, continues
to exacerbate it. Frikkin’ Word! Thank god for jumbo-sized tins of soup my
Chinese mom brings me – good for something at least (I use them as weights for
my tennis elbow exercises, in case you didn’t get that, because the thought of
meat in a tin swimming in what was no doubt a large vat of various other things
in a factory somewhere appals me. But then,
I always was a picky eater.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB">But I think
my biggest gripe of the morning lies with Amazon Kindle, ‘cos, getting back to
that sample chapter that is currently there for everyone to see with the word ‘dated’
instead of ‘dared’ in it as I wait anxiously to be able to upload a correction,
why exactly does it take twenty-four hours (or so) for them to allow you access
again after each and every submission?
Huh? I mean… it’s not like anyone
is physically checking them or anything.
It’s the same if you only upload a new cover image; you have to wait if
you want to make any little changes to your manuscript. <i>Why</i>? Isn’t this all done by computers?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Smashwords is
great that way; changes are instant. So why not Kindle, I ask? Why do we have to wait forty-eight frikkin' hours for
the initial manuscript to even appear, and then between twelve and twenty-four hours
thereafter for any changes we might wanna make?
<i>Huh</i>?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB">It’s kind of
like banking though; any money coming out of your account vanishing instantly
when you make a payment, but takes five working days when you want to transfer
it from your higher interest savings account or if an authority of some
description needs to refund you. <i>Why</i>? But that’s another gripe, another day.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB">The good thing is that <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Moon-Doesnt-Shine-ebook/dp/B00DP0D5XQ/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1373568723&sr=1-5">The Moon Doesn't Shine</a> has been doing very nicely in the UK and the US (or at least dotcom) and that's great; but its particularly gratifying to see <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Prickly-Scots-Pt-II-ebook/dp/B006WJUR10/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1373568764&sr=1-4">Prickly Scots Pt II</a> selling well too after me having made <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Prickly-Scots-Pt-I-ebook/dp/B004XWC0J0/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1373568788&sr=1-3">Pt I</a> free* for a number of months as a marketing strategy, because that was the book I wrote before learning how to write professionally and subsequently tried to change accordingly as I went through my writing journey before finally deciding to let it fly free because it was like painting the Golden Gate frikkin' Bridge; never ending. But most of all because it is my baby, my first born, and for people to want to get Pt II is one of my favourite things to see. </span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-GB">I do actually drop in there on occasion to visit my earlier writing self and because I miss the characters ; always uplifting even if I do say so myself; but it's like going home. I have started a Prickly Scots Pt III - at the request of some readers... but that might take a while.... ooh, I just got emailed from Amazon; I can upload my edited manuscript... it'll only take a few hours for the changes to reflect in the sample. Frikkin' Amazon Kindle. Lol.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Anyhoo... just felt like rambling on a little this morning... have a good day yourself.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
*Free only at Amazon dotcom, I believe, and even if it doesn't look like it is, it <i>is</i><i>,</i> you won't be charged, but for the rest of the world you can get it at <a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/141097">Smashwords</a>, Kobo, Nook, Barnes & Noble or iTunes etc. Promotion ends October 2013, and ps: If you have an older copy, some changes have been made recently, I'd suggest you get the newer one).</div>
<!--EndFragment--><br />
<!--EndFragment-->Sam Walkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01042888599773098090noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-848151707328717153.post-40821513563790232942013-05-15T13:49:00.003-07:002020-04-12T21:39:55.828-07:00Listening versus Reading?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span lang="EN-GB">I haven’t
done a piece on my writing journey for a while, but after something that
happened last week, it brought to the surface an instance that annoyed me
greatly from way back in 2011 when a ‘so-called’ reviewer – and I mean an
unqualified person who advertised themselves as such in exchange for free books
– 'reviewed' one of my books based on only having listened to it as opposed to
actually having read it in the traditional sense; having her e-reader’s unemotional
voice relay it, while, I imagine, she did her vacuuming or something. Don't get me wrong; I know audio books are popular; I just don't write them, but if I did I can imagine I'd need to bear that in mind during the writing process; make it listener friendly. <i>How</i> do I know she listened to it? Part of her review made mention of how funny it was to hear the e-reader speak in Scottish vernacular where I'd used that. Granted that would be funny, but to say so in a review as one of the things she enjoyed most? <i>Huh</i>. Perhaps I could have had a wheel going round and round for her amusement instead of the clever interaction of the characters that I did.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">I said
nothing about it at the time because I’ve learned from the writer’s site that I
used to participate in through the early years of my journey, not to engage in
conflict over the Internet – usually nothing good coming from that – but the
situation from last week pushed me over the edge a little, and so I do have to
vent at least a little – I mean, after such good behaviour online for years, I
feel I’m entitled to a minor rant every now and then; gives me character (or at least
displays more of its true nature.) Lol.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">But really, I
do find that pouring out my occasional woe into the vastness of the blogosphere
is like a tourist in Mexico pissing into the ocean; the acidity of a day drinking cuervo dissipates into
nothingness almost instantly there as you go back to basking comfortably in the sun. And talking of oceans, certainly this person’s
‘review’ from all that time ago has clung like a barnacle to the debris from
Japan washing up on British Columbia’s shores right now. Time to clean it up, air it out, power wash
the crap away like they did from that Harley Davidson motorcycle.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">Don’t get me
wrong, her review was actually quite good, she enjoyed the story overall and even
said that a certain demographic would love it, the content just wasn’t for her;
calling it ‘man humour’ and slagging off ‘the so-called ladies’ in that book
for having the odd audacious thought – which was, largely, the entire point I made
in its synopsis (back then). She gave it three
stars, which isn’t bad, and in fact balances the five and four stars
there. Yet, shortly after, I saw her
rave about Fifty Shades of Grey; giving it a resounding five stars whereas the
majority of readers have slagged it off for the poor writing, and where, rather ironically, I thought, she loves that the female MC gets up to all sorts of crude and lewd activity – from what I understand; the sample
chapter being quite enough for this discerning reader. What…
because the book is more geared towards the<i>
female</i> interest in sex? But I can totally see why one could ‘listen’ to such a book; there is, apparently,
nothing literary in it to get any juices flowing other than the obvious ones.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">My point is,
I’m more literary than most, I <i>have</i> come to realise that I need to simplify my
stories for a more laid back kind of reading experience, and I <i>can</i> understand why many
people these days are actually <i>able</i> to ‘listen’ to a book - from what I’ve seen emerging as the new norm – in that most indies are written in an amateur first
person style such as Fifty Shades is: ‘I did this, I did that, I blinked… etc.’
Fine, easy to listen to, perhaps the <i>only</i>
way to ‘read’ such stories, but when a writer implements deeper meaning,
creates sentences perhaps intended for the reader to sit and contemplate, even
re-read, then it has to be digested by the eyes to be absorbed into the soul; these are intended to put the reader into the story. I mean,
listening to your girlfriend’s description of some hunk that came by to take
care of her dripping pipe wouldn’t be as satisfying as actually standing
over that plumber while he was on the job now, would it? <i>Admit</i> it.
Same thing. But I don't mind; after all, I
take solace and pride in the fact that my writing has been mentioned by notable
people in the industry, a Poet Laureate, international best selling author over decades of the books 'Princess' and 'Growing up Bin Laden' among many others, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Jean-Sasson/e/B000APMHVU/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1368651316&sr=1-1">Jean Sasson</a>, to mention but two. Why, I even passed with flying colours, the entry tests set by a company in San Francisco - Hyperink.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">But back to the
point of all this, recently I answered a call for submissions; writing 10,000 words in
24hrs because I only saw it the day before, I could have written 5000 but went full steam ahead, and long story short, the
publisher loved it and is going to use it as the title/cover story for one of the anthologies. The story was as perfect as I could make it
in that short time frame, albeit in my traditional style, a tad complex, and
one that many don’t, or yes, <i>can’t</i>, use,
but the writings of H G Wells were given as an example of what was actually
wanted for these intended books. Fine, that’s right
up my alley. Usually I’d take weeks,
months even, to pour over anything, but it was alright; the rubric said that
first drafts were entirely acceptable as they’d be going through the editing
process anyway.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">So, <i>anyhoo</i>... after all of this, now in the actual process of it all, despite
me putting the publisher in touch with a professional editor who’s agreed to
work with one of the anthologies, what do I get? A wannabe editor who’s taken some classes and
whom immediately I worried would not be able to get my style after looking at
her own website, and, let's just say, less than stellar writing in the samples of her own works there. However, fine, I will go with it
and see what happens; easygoing for the most part about such things; one is usually better with other people's stuff than their own work after all. In the meantime
the publisher sends her all of the stories he wanted her to content edit, mentioning
that one of them was a story that another editor refused to work with. She assumed, when she came to mine, that was
the one he was talking about, no doubt because I didn’t use a ‘cat on the mat’ style
of writing, and the way she referred to it and to me was highly insulting in
emails that were probably never intended for my eyes; assuming that I have
never written anything in my life before, and referring to my piece as my
‘little darling that I probably wouldn’t want touched,’ also saying that it was too old fashioned; that I
needed to write for a modern reader – and by that I can only assume she means
YA, or the lesser educated – which I don’t generally do - but anything more literary, out of her realm - and most certainly wouldn't want touched by her.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">Although, in those
emails she admitted that she'd only had her machine read it to her – bear in mind
that this is a highly complex story, containing actual physics, backstory, deep
meaning about the future of humanity and all kinds of other sophisticated stuff
that was, quite simply, obviously beyond her comprehension; the notes she did make, even
from the simplicity of the first paragraph, making it clear that she hadn’t
actually ‘listened’ to it at all, saying that it was 'all telling' – something I
do not do; well versed in various forms of exposition thank you very much, but
misinterpreting the fact that it was written in omniscient voice and not the
first person voice she no doubt expects or is used to. I get it, they're on a tight budget; but the cost of having my work messed around with by a person like this, is far too high for me to pay.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">The two thing she got right, was in saying, ‘she wouldn’t have a clue where to start,’ and that 'this could be a much larger book.' The publisher wrote back to her telling her
that he loved the story, which was <i>why</i> it was to be the title story, the style
being what attracted him to it in the first place; that he completely connected with everything, the character especially, that she mentioned had no substance. Hah! Characterization is what I'm (semi) famous for. As a
result, the subsequent emails from her changed their tune even if they were now
trying to save face; willing to work on it all of a sudden. Hah!
No chance! If he sent me her
emails, then no doubt she received my choice words in response too; no way
could she ever look at my story objectively now, not even by<i> actually</i> reading it, for that’s the impression she gave me about who she was – the quintessential mean girl who slags people off behind their backs and retains resentment, despite the initial sugary sweet and, apparently, helpful email she sent to introduce herself. But further, while I am always open to
critique and suggestion, completely welcome it; part of the never ending
writer’s journey after all, I have come too far to have it thrown into the
hands of someone less qualified than me who simply want to exercise their community college course training in their first editing job ever. Overzealous, not to mention not trusting her own opinion; backtracking on realizing this was not the questionable story mentioned by the publisher. But then, the point
of this little rant is just that; I can’t help but feel many people who
advertise themselves as reviewers and editors are no more qualified to do so
than many writers out there are who have never taken even a writing class to learn the fundamentals yet
blatantly advertise themselves as successful authors - and the mood I'm in I so wish I could name names right now, but will exercise decorum.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">Maybe I’m
wrong, but I really don’t feel an editor or reviewer should simply switch on a
robotic voice to read a writer’s work to them while they go about their other
business… doing the dishes… <i>whatever</i>. .. when it is not in fact intended as an audio book - and maybe not even then. And in the case of reviewers, such as the one
I mentioned earlier, if the genre of the story is not one to your taste, then
perhaps discern that from the synopsis, or at least comment on the level of
writing as well, don’t just concentrate on the negative, the aspects of
someone’s hard work that you <i>personally </i>don’t
like to read; take the time to learn what a real review should be; earn your
free lifetime supply of books if you're going to call yourself a reviewer. In this case though, I really don’t mind;
anyone who thought Fifty Shades of Grey was the best thing ever really doesn’t
belong in the same circles as me; I can see why my writing wouldn’t appeal to
her, and so have removed myself from her social media - and since, systematically doing the same with others as I come to see posts and statuses that have no bearing on who, or where, I am on my own personal journey, and, using the ocean analogy, avoiding that tsunami of irrelevant to me information that you see daily and have to cling to a tree trunk to survive.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Getting back
to my 10,000 word story; I have told the publisher that I will not work with this
person and that I remain indifferent about having my piece in the anthology if
he has a problem with that; I <i>will</i> withdraw
it. My first hissy fit actually, and
making me rather uncomfortably seem like a prima donna, because I’m not... truly
I’m not; can look at my own work objectively, know what’s good and throw out
what’s crap; I do it all the time; I love people more trained than myself to offer pointers and to critique honestly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Where am I
left? He really wants the story, and has
invited me to take the time, given the 24hrs in which I wrote this draft (thankfully now with the privilege of a few thousand extra words that will help me to simplify
it, and which I know really needs done for easier reading in general as I <i>can</i> be convoluted, I fully realize that – but then, the very reason my
work should be read and not ‘listened’ to - grammatically correct as it stands
or not). He suggests that I work with someone on my own if I want, that if we can get it
to a publishable state then it won’t need to go through another editor – but
even if it does… I welcome it; just make sure they’re qualified more than I am
to judge/wanna change it; I don’t write half-heartedly; to coin a cliché, I put my heart and
soul into everything I do write (and don't orate). It would be nice to have that reciprocated by so called professional reviewer/editors - their resulting opinions, good <i>or</i> bad - but then, the people I mention here are hardly professional, are they? I suppose we have to get used to that.</span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Sam Walkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01042888599773098090noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-848151707328717153.post-64160564806010337612013-04-06T17:32:00.000-07:002020-04-12T21:40:07.510-07:00E-books too cheap?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span lang="EN-GB">I found myself writing a response to
another blog that posed the question 'are e-books too cheap?' As usual my reply ended up being longer than their
article and so I’m posting it here instead. But the simple answer would be 'yes, yes they are.'</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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There is of course a lot of ranting about
this subject matter in my world - indeed done so myself here in the past - something, actually, that I can scare myself with, <i>ranting</i>, in terms of just how well I can do that. But that kind of honesty isn't received very well in general in a largely passive aggressive society; does nothing for my online presence, so I refrain from it for the most part these days. With that in mind, I won't go on too much.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There's varying reasons as to why books
are so under-priced but it never fails to astound me that the level of work that goes
into creating a (well written) book is so undervalued - and not least of which
by the author themselves. </div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">What other profession where such high level
of skill is demanded can be paid for by the consumer with only pennies? It's offensive to me that people think
nothing of paying $5.00 or higher for a cup of coffee that's been generically percolated in
minutes - oftentimes more than once a day - and yet balk at paying $2.99 for a
book that's been months, or even years, in the making, a product that can provide days or
weeks of pure reading pleasure that can induce a better high than caffeine, or even accompany that if you're like me and totally addicted to the stuff - but something definitely wrong with that picture - the book thing, not the coffee; nothing wrong with <i>that</i> at all.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">Even if you have written an amazing book
that should sell at a comparatively decent price, unless you have the art of
marketing down, and even then, you probably won't sell any more even if you do completely under-price - that's one mistake authors make all too often, I feel. Make it free, in general, for whatever reason
(and there may be some validity to doing this for promotional purposes) and
many won't value it at all - in fact whole forums dedicated to listing freebies
on a daily basis are filled with people 'over-frothing' their e-readers for the
sake of it - are they really going to even look at a book priced at the
outrageous sum of 99c when they have so many freebies readily available in the
hopes that they'll find the odd gem? Frankly, I'm amazed that books are even allowed to be free on an on-going
basis by the distributors. What else in
this life is?... well... outside of all
that insightful enlightenment you hear about. And if some people are so unimaginative that they can't manage to find any of <i>that</i> for themselves... <i>well</i>
then... they should have to pay for gleaning it from others who work extremely hard at depositing their insights and inventiveness in the form of stories. Just sayin'.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">Unfortunately one reason is because of the
slush pile available publicly; authors feel pressured into lowering their
prices, trying, and usually failing, to get noticed. Why
should the reader have to pay for your work when they can get something else
for nothing, or next to it? Yes, outrageous to have to pay for the months of very real slogging that a true writer undertakes to bring you a story. Indeed, I hope the comic books are separated from the
encyclopaedias sooner rather than later - perhaps when untrained writers come
to realize that it might be easy enough to publish a book, but not so easy to
create a product that's actually worth the time they spend doing that, that
they're simply bogging the rest of us down, those of us who are serious about it; striving to be
the best writers we can be, not just for our benefit, but the reader's too. Surely to God that's worth the pennies lying around in your car's coffee cup holder?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Did I say I wasn't going to go on too
much...? Ah well.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Sam Walkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01042888599773098090noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-848151707328717153.post-79087186393053197072013-01-16T20:14:00.004-08:002020-04-12T21:40:36.250-07:00Did you know writing can be a real addiction? <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<h3>
<span lang="EN-GB"><b>Wednesday 10.00am</b></span></h3>
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<span lang="EN-GB">My…. <i>acquaintances</i>… shall we say… for I no
longer have friends, <i>per se</i>… can call me obsessive compulsive. I’m <i>not</i>. Just dedicated. Usually finish what I started. That’s supposed to be a good thing. <i>Right</i>? Granted they do try to counteract what is
really intended as an insult by adding ‘…but in a good way.’ However, as I look around me, at my life, how
it’s turning out since I started my writing journey about seven years ago, I
think they might be spot on; I’ve let <i>everything</i>
else slip… and not least of which, my <i>physical</i> self. This <i>is</i> an addiction, no joke about it anymore like I used to say; I'm being <i>entirely</i> serious; the effects as potentially damaging as many other, frowned upon, addictions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">If I have a resolution - which I don’t normally make simply because it’s a new year - for 2013, it’s that
I have to balance my love of writing with what pays the bills, what inspires
me… what keeps the weight of my erstwhile slim waistline – which is kind of
funny because I don’t really eat, never have… but the old metabolism, that used to beat any amount of calories into submission singlehandedly, has started to turn traitor.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">I've been 'binge-writing' recently, been obsessed, had one of those bouts that last a few weeks where everything else goes to hell and time has no meaning. The result... even though I have an ergonomic chair and desk, all the poise in the world, what feels like some kind of a hip
displacement! <i>That's</i> new! I've found that kind of writing really is detrimental to my health:
headaches, eye strain, tennis elbow, stiff joints, nodules in my right arm where it leans on the desk,
weight gain (yes, despite the fact I don't eat) hair loss, baggy skin... sore ribs... or <i>somethin</i>'... I <i>could</i> go on. But that's all going to change; yes, this year I'm
getting back into jogging and other stuff that will balance what should be my real life with my writing one much more fairly, much more healthily.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">Today I<i> have</i> to do
my taxes – an infinitely hated task that despite the relative simplicity of when
I <i>do </i>get around to them, are seven months overdue - as reminded by Revenue
Canada last week - a letter I’ve long since expected - insisting I file a return – and which I’ve
resolved to do right now, <i>today</i>, but in
my obsessive compulsiveness, well-versed in the art of procrastination with
<i>everything</i> else these days other than writing - and <i>especially</i> when it comes to facts and
figures - I’ve found myself compiling this article instead. Yes, indeed, a <i>true</i> addict.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">But I <i>will</i> do them; I don’t want to get up in the
morning anymore and dread having to, because that’s the first thing that pops
into my mind, and I am, believe it or not, a responsible citizen… or at
least I <i>used</i> to be... when I was part of society.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">My taxes are filed
in plastic bags, the odd liquor store and Safeway ones, <i>garbage</i> bags, even - perhaps the writer in me;
a metaphor for what I really think of taxes - and, in ink, the year
scribbled less than eloquently on the outside before being tossed into a little office in my workplace that I don’t use
except to hide things I don’t want to see.
If I’m ever audited, that’s what they’ll get; garbage bags and less than
well-kept records that are, actually, probably to my detriment. Yes, I am a CRAP businessman. Hate that side of anything,
even in writing… <i>hate</i> promoting myself, my books, hate having to do the marketing… <i>all</i> of
that stuff. But there comes a time you
have to bite the bullet. Today’s that day, and for all my love of sitting and writing, still trying to procrastinate even now, I'm glad I'm the kind of person that can kick myself up the arse before it's too late.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">However, it’s struck
me, if I were to put as much effort into my real life, my real relationships,
my real business, as I do with writing, I’d probably be a highly successful, popular guy -
at least in that <i>weird</i> way people<i>
used</i> to be enamoured... or somethin'... by me. I’d be slimmer, able to
wear the fitted designer shirts in 'medium' from Italy that've been abandoned to the
darkest recesses of my closets, the pair of jeans I've never worn, all of which, in lucid, <i>occasional</i> moments in the
real world, have become but a pipe dream; remnants of a surreal memory of
a more dynamic <i>me</i> that would go out of my way to do photobombs. Not anymore; swiping away anyone's camera like Naomi Campbell to the paparazzi as soon as they come anywhere near me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">But that’s all going
to change. <i>Yes, cha-nge, I tells ya</i>. I’m going to start eating
again too, <i>proper</i> food. Maybe I’ll lose some weight; 20Ibs and
climbing over what I <i>should</i> be;
shocked to see too (as someone who didn’t lose or put on a single pound my
entire life regardless of my habits) that even a ‘large’ won't tell the lie
effectively. And yes, it may not be
much, but <i>I</i> watch <i>The Biggest Loser</i>,
that’s how they <i>all</i> start.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">And so I feel I <i>have</i> been a bit obsessive, and, no; not in a
good way at all - save your political correctness for social media - I see what
writing is doing to me, how it's affecting me, snared me,<i> literally</i>, into its den, how my puppy looks at me, to say ‘oh, please,
not again for fuck sake’ when I sit at my desk. Don’t
get me wrong; I know what’s important; he gets his exercise, and plenty of it,
lovin’ too, but going to the park is becoming more of a chore than quality time
for me, if I’m being honest, and even then, my mind teeming with clever anecdotes that makes me wish I'd brought a pen. But that is
the one thing that <i>does</i> make me sit and think about how much time I <i>am</i> spending writing, perhaps the
catalyst that makes me come to this realization; for not only do I need to
focus more on my lovely little dog, but on me, my old friends, my health, my business – which
perhaps is in danger of being run so far into the ground that there’s an
entrance into it from Australia, because I'm simply neglecting it in some ways. After
all, it <i>is</i> life, people, and the very art of living that inspire my stories;
staying indoors writing for years on end, even as a highly imaginative person,
is like never maintaining your car (which I also let go for two years until
recently, used to do that every winter and every summer). No, your mind needs ‘lubed’ as
well, and perhaps parts of <i>you</i> too (get yours out the gutter) I mean like... aromatherapy... or somethin'... <i>whatever</i>, total
relaxation, anyway. A mental vacation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">I think I’ve come
far enough in this never ending writing journey, for it <i>will be</i> never-ending, apparently, that I can <i>afford</i> to calm it a
bit now, stop obsessing, take time out every now and then, because I think I’ve become quite good at
it, yes; I should <i>really</i>
focus on doing that – however ‘taxing’ it might be.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<h3>
<span lang="EN-GB">Wednesday 5pm</span></h3>
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<span lang="EN-GB">So, in the process
of going through every drawer, every bag, every room at both work and home, I
not only got my 2011 taxes organised, but my 2012 ones too - six months earlier
than I need to, which should make up for the six months I’m late with the 2011
return, <i>don't ya think</i>? But I did have a moment of
panic, starting to absolutely freak out when I saw the piles of receipts and invoices before
me, but then, with my newfound attitude, nothing else to do, methodically went through it all, and surprisingly, rather enjoyed it. I’ll file the return
electronically tomorrow, for I most definitely have had enough now. However, in the process, I found two
un-cashed cheques, one from my 2010 taxes from the government for $179,26,
which thankfully I can still cash over a year later, and one for just under $30.00 from another company which is only a few months old. And if that wasn’t surprising enough,
two of a number of old lottery tickets bringing me another $40.00 when I checked
them - so I'm richer by $250.00 just by getting myself organized... the universe rewarding me for making the effort to come out of the dark shadows of my writer's mindset? Don't be ridiculous; merely coincidental, shows just what a CRAP businessman I am.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 6.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Now I’m off to have
pizza and beer and watch the premiere of <i>American
Idol</i> - the diet and exercise will begin after the taxes are filed; too much
all at one time<i>. </i> Yes, too much, I deserve a bloody break.<span style="font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0cm; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.helium.com/items/1404368-test-for-writing-addiction">Here is an article on the very serious matter of writing addiction.</a></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Sam Walkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01042888599773098090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-848151707328717153.post-75338928838579802002013-01-02T12:35:00.005-08:002020-04-12T21:41:22.545-07:00E L James<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span lang="EN-GB">You know, I
actually felt a little bit of empathy for E L James when I saw Katie Couric
interview her about her Fifty Shades series in front of a live audience; what
struck me was, that here was a woman overwhelmed by the ‘relative’ success of
her book.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Love it or hate it,
and I have to admit the sample chapter was more than I could get through
because of the writing, but it was kind of painful to watch her try to be
interested in talking about her book at all, in fact she spent most of the
interview squirming, hardly did any of the speaking; guests and members
of the audience, as well as Katie herself, doing it all for her while she swung
her foot constantly, scratched her head and looked completely mortified while
unable to answer anything she was being asked, trying to come up with clever
automaton answers that were obviously feigned… like, 'Oh… I wouldn’t be able to
say that on national television’, while Katie pushed for specifics about what her favourite sexual fantasy, and the like, might be, to which
she finally responded she couldn’t come up with anything off the top of her
head.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">The truth of the
matter is, as perhaps, most writers will know, the worlds created in our books
are separate from our real one, we expose our inner selves through our
writing, cater to our imagination. Mostly we’re shy and don’t take our stories quite as literally as our readership can, and with all the work involved, can even become
sick to death of talking about them without a sort of used up enthusiasm. There
were spurts of E L trying to find a comfort level; joking around here and there
with Katie in that English way that she would do more authentically with her
best mates up the pub; 'Oh <i>come</i> on Katie...' she cajoled about something a tad risqué that seemed to be over Katie's pristine head despite her wearing a leather dress for the occasion - which actually she looked great in. And I don’t blame
her; questions from the audience including asking her advice on what sex toys
to buy and what shops are best to get them from, plus talking about her characters as if
they were real people, like, 'How could he be so rich being so young?' & 'How could
she orgasm, as a virgin in a way that women haven’t been able to do after years?',
her response, evidently annoyed, perhaps having been asked a million times; simply, that it's <i>only</i> a story, she’s not a sex therapist, only wrote the book for her own
enjoyment, jotting down her own fantasies, and then she said, 'I would just buy a tie' - which was perhaps the one good response she did give. Come on now... it’s fiction, people... learn to discern it from reality; after all, all those writers who have their characters hacked to pieces don't go around doing that, others not actually travelling to alternate fantasy worlds where people have names that could be across between Welsh and Klingon. Do they? She even said at one point that she really
didn’t understand why there <i>was </i>so much hype surrounding this book; that it only started out as fan fiction after all... but that's mainstream publishing for you; people do get carried away because everyone else and their dog is; the art of brainwashing marketing techniques obviously still rife. Still effective.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"> But I think what
<i>is </i>evident, the <i>hype,</i> the thing that <i>has</i> come from this series, is
a liberation of sorts for women to say its alright to speak about these kinds
of bedroom activities openly now, the book simply a portal to that; E L James
just happened along the way; acceptable to like something other than vampires now... and for many who weren't already doing it, the opportunity to write about their sexual fantasies freely for, from what I've seen, erotica, and or porn, huge amid writers currently.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB">Small price to pay though,
I would think, for this kind of success, to have to do the interviews, and so, while I do feel some sympathy
for her, at least she can reap and enjoy the benefits when it's all over, even
have a platform to jump from now to promote her future works. I think most writers would envy that.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Sam Walkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01042888599773098090noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-848151707328717153.post-91028007992329199232012-11-15T00:24:00.000-08:002020-04-12T21:42:35.973-07:00What makes me wanna write?<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I was invited to be interviewed about being a writer (to be publicized soon) and was asked a number of questions, one of them about what inspires/motivates me to write, and when I got into it, I realized I'd gone on a bit and my answer to that one question, in its entirety, couldn't possibly be used owing to it's length - 1454 words, and so I'm depositing it here instead to add to my other posts about my writing journey - and perhaps as an appendix, should anyone reading the actual interview be a glutton for punishment - and also because I've been very busy lately, and haven't done a post in a while. Enjoy.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">***</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">First and foremost I write for myself,
and I’m being quite serious when I say I quantum leap into the (fabricated) worlds
I create when I do.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">‘<i>Whaaa</i>…?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">You heard.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">But easy to do when you know how;
understand our planet’s indentation upon the fabric of space and therefore the
gravitational pull of the various dimensions ensnared by it that enables a
creative mind to traverse with a hop, skip and a… well… quantum leap… into the elementary;
the ability to connect everything in the universe between A and B let alone all
the way to Z making for interesting inventions indeed. How could they <i>not</i> be told?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">“<i>Is
this guy for real</i>?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I’m afraid so, but only in the literal
sense, otherwise I’m largely considered a weirdo anomaly, so much so that when
I enter a room I cause it to become lopsided.
But I like to think of myself as a wonderful eccentric, even though I’m
not; better than my artistic sensibility becoming mistranslated. But that’s what a black hole where the
unknown dwells in infinite state will do for a writer such as me; one who
strives to try and be unique; shock a little here and there; simply futile to
even try and resist the gravitational pull because somewhere therein, for such
a person as I, lies home, and everyone needs a place to relax? <i>Right</i>?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">“<i>Huh</i>?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Please keep up. In other words, the need to express the
gift of an unusual imagination in storytelling is inherent; affords an escapism
that can’t, at least for me, be found on our four-dimensional plane. Such a mind is so fully integrated in
alternate existence that the impossible is the only place where a lone-wolf might
feel they belong – and wolves can <i>do</i>
that these days, <i>can’t</i> they; space
travel? Or at least, werewolves do -
even though I’ve never seen any of those particular creatures when <i>I’m</i> flying around up there - but an irresistible
pastime; writing; the den of the universe calling me to mine its abyss of ingenuity, where, what hopefully emerges on paper upon my return, is new life, new
worlds and a story that no man has written before. Enterprising indeed. Yes, I like to think of myself as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashtar_(extraterrestrial_being)">Ashtar</a>,
spreading stardust wherever I go.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Who?<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Oh… <i>nobody</i>; just some alien from the 50s, I'm sorry if you expected Picard.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">But trekking through the stars and
cheap metaphors about a popular TV franchise and an entity that people channel
on New Years Eve aside, I’m an introvert, a true lone wolf, a little bit
strange, and writing allows my soul to bare its teeth fully in a way that’s
just not acceptable in person – but then that might be my propensity for
dressing up as Mediaeval French royalty, I don’t know. But as a fairly complex person, apparently, I
couldn’t possibly go into the ins and outs of who I am fully here, but I did
write a very heartfelt piece about what makes me me, entitled ‘<a href="http://spmount.blogspot.ca/2012/08/precipice-of-alternate-plane.html">Precipice
of an Alternate Plane’</a>, a few months ago, that attempts to explain away the
strangeness of me as well as anything ever could I guess; inspired to write
something from my heart by the late Nora Ephron’s piece on death, which really
touched me in that how honest it was.
But it’s a piece, if you were to look closely enough, that might explain
just how I, and no doubt, many other inspired anomalies, see the world differently
from most; literally not taken in by it, not feeling embraced, possessing a
kind of x-ray vision, allowing us to see it being played out very differently, insisting
on keeping us at arm’s length despite our best efforts of, as the song goes, putting
the right one in in the first place, followed by an awkward left leg;
everything, seemingly basic at every turn, with alternate essence, simply begging
to be reinvented by the art of storytelling.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">“<i>Oh…
I see…,”</i>said the blind man.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">No you don't. But anyhoo, we simply can’t help it; and even
though it can often be to our detriment; becoming even more ostracised; obsessed
to the point where we allow it to affect our health and listen to its
insistence that we forego other perhaps more financially promising careers, an
artist does what an artist does because it’s truly a calling – unlike the cameo
character, Sister Betty in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004XWC0J0/ref=s9_simh_gw_p351_d0_i2?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=0NRF9Y1931BV4X4V3E92&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1389517282&pf_rd_i=507846">Prickly
Scots</a>, who, for the want of anything else to do, only became a nun after
her husband left her penniless and nowhere else to go, but still she manages to
find a way to buy cigarettes, crafty bitch.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">But there’s an honesty that we can get
away with in fiction that’s perhaps by-the-wayside in real life; society, and
very much so in art, inclined to be automaton, and so recreating it somewhat
satiates my need for humour, which even my more literary works are filled with,
and a perfect way to not get into trouble with my ‘say it as is’, ‘no nonsense’
attitude that I’ve needed to learn to curtail somewhat. The small hope is that, should they become
successful enough, they might influence others into thinking along new
lines. In writing, people tend to find rudeness
amusing, a tad outrageous, admirable even, and that's great, I think that we <i>should</i> laugh at
ourselves more; our current climate far too politically correct sometimes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">In fact, total honesty is a prerequisite
for every aspect of my life, sometimes to my detriment; a tad obsessive
compulsive about it, I know; intolerant of anything that doesn’t ring true,
even in fiction, for I cannot read, and certainly not write that if I can’t see
it being played out authentically in my mind’s eye despite the fabricated
nature of it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I think my approach affords my
characters an interesting angle though, regardless of whether they’re aliens or
monsters, a nasty old lady or a precocious child, <i>whatever</i>, nothing and nobody as perfect as a lot of writers seem to
want to make their worlds and their protagonists because, in general, that’s how
its always been. And so I feel, with my sometimes completely annoying ability for omniscience,
‘seeing’ people the way I do, that this translates into believable eccentrics
that the reader can, on some level, identify with better while still maintaining
a degree of awe for fictional characters, and it also affords abundant
opportunity for me to develop them in a way perhaps readers might secretly
relate to outside of our largely sugar-coated world.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">“<i>Did
he just digress to the point where I have no idea what he’s talking about
anymore</i>?” Probably, I do that; makes
you read pieces like this more than once; get over it. ”But most people might
just say they write because they love to, for fuc… I mean… <i>Heaven’s</i>
sake.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Yes well, I’m not most people; please
pay attention… and there’s absolutely no need for expletives or blasphemy…
thank you very much.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">But I guess my point is, I see
inspiration everywhere, and I mean <i>absolutely</i>
everywhere; cursed, it feels like sometimes, but it all builds up into what I
call ‘FBI’ profiles for my characters/stories, and so I hope that those who dip
their toes into the extra-terrestrial tides of the oceans I swim, that it will
ultimately entertain them too.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">“<i>Whaaa</i>…?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Yeah, you heard, get over it; I’m a
writer; I’m allowed to get like, all fancy… and <i>shit.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Hardly mainstream though, and I won’t
compromise, but that’s another matter; whether people like my writing or not,
is, quite frankly, largely irrelevant to me; and even though I’d really like
them to, again first and foremost I do write for me, myself and I. It <i>is</i>
always a pleasure though, when I see readers gain some unexpected delight from
my unusual style, and I really appreciate that. Discerning types, <i>obviously</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I
believe writers are therapists, psychologists and comedians, gatekeepers to
Escapasia, inventors (obviously, ‘cos I just made that last word up lest you
couldn’t tell) books, simply portals to other dimensions where anything is
possible. They’re educators, motivators and inspirers. Who knows what a good story teller arouses in others,
what dreams they elicit, the wings of imagination that they set in flight.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">“<i>Okay, puke... enough already; I get it</i>.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Yeah…
I agree.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">But
what really motivated me in the first instance, was the worlds I became lost in
in my childhood; reading every Enid Blyton book I could lay my hands on; a
writer that transported me into her exciting worlds in the same way, I guess,
that JK did for a whole new generation. And
despite writing first and foremost because I love to do it, I would also love
to think that someone, somewhere, got the same experience as that from something I’ve
written.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">“<i>Aww… I actually understood that bit.</i>“<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Uh
huh.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Sam Walkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01042888599773098090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-848151707328717153.post-75174928019092078452012-10-03T12:33:00.001-07:002020-04-12T21:42:47.765-07:00Writing is a journey <br />
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</span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;"></span></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;">
</span></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;">I often think of my writing journey as an expedition
through the mountains – and not just the local kind either; the ones you can
drive up and take a seat on a bench to admire the sunset over the city, no; I’m
talking Rockies here. Precipitous terrain. And what better than animal guides
to lead the way?</span></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;">
</span></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: right;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">And when I
started out that venture, an intensely passionate young wolf, treading ahead
without observing the lay of the land, I met with a sheer cliff-face, scoffing,
demanding I turn around, tail between my legs.<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;">
</span></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;">Like many, I started writing without having the
slightest clue, simply penning from the heart because the gift is inherent.
But, as I soon found out, that was incredibly naïve; much more than just that
required.</span></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;">
</span></span>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: right;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">An otter, quirky,
unorthodox, my passion intrinsic, but what did I know of the mountain at all,
the intimacy of its spiritual essence, its magnitude of pride & honour
commanding to be scaled?<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
I unapologetically broke every rule that I didn’t know
existed. Never knowing when to stop writing, until 600,000 words later. And
with zero editing, I proudly printed off my amazing book and hired a forklift
truck to take it up the post office to send it off to a publisher without even
having queried them first. Ye-s, not long before I’d become the next J K
Rowling. Ha!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: right;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A raven, highly
enthusiastic, perched atop lofty peaks, my name whistling between. Ye-s, I’d
soar that mountainous terrain. But I plummet instead, spiralling and
splattering.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
And then I discovered an amateur writing site, where
immediately I felt intimidated; people’s ability putting my efforts to shame;
using words like ‘exposition’ and ‘verisimilitude’ that I didn’t even
understand, let alone have a clue as to how to apply them to my work.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: right;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A lame goose now,
limping treacherous, infinite lands where I encounter many an obstacle; scaling
icy plateaus that slip me down deceptive paths into mouths of predators.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: right;">
Obviously I’d a great deal to learn, and so I dove
right in, surprisingly being quite well received for a novice. ‘Encouraging.”
And I soaked up reviews on not only my, but everyone else’s work, embraced
constructive criticism while seeing others becoming highly defensive, not
willing to learn (and who still can be; the same folks not moved on any; their
writing unchanged, still amateur after all these years).</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: right;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">And now I swim a
mountain torrent; a salmon, electric, focused, intuitive and wholly creative.
Upstream, to pinnacles low, but the vista hazy, a mist lingering a precipice
that still I might plunge.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
I learned how and how not to interact with online
society; the written word not always perceived as intended – especially amid
different culture; easily lost in translation – and becoming annoyed at the
sugar-coating being sprinkled liberally, artificial sweetening that, despite
what they say, still begets rot. And then I found my clique; invited to a
writers’ critique group where people stirred cups of libretto without taking
sugar at all.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: right;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I build a dam
upon those that would battle my wit to cross the river, for I am beaver, hear
me… well… thump… really. Cunning. My mental acuity, razor sharp, but
compassionate, generous, helpful and loyal too.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
In this more ‘serious’ writers’ group, I discovered the
importance of presentation in ways that maybe I hadn’t really thought of:
similar size paragraphs; a mixture of long and short sentences; avoiding
passive voice; learning how to use semicolons properly; the importance of
consistent tense; avoiding the word ‘was’; how to show and not tell, and much,
much more – invaluable stuff for a newbie.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: right;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pragmatic,
methodical, reaching higher plateaus where, as a bear, I enter a den and prance
out a deer, discover my humour, a natural intelligence that, when combined,
will write me well.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
And then, going onto my first writing course, I
pleasantly found that it’d all prepared me; I wasn’t clueless; actually had an
inkling of much that I was to be taught in class. But still, a great deal to
learn: the formulaic and technical aspects; how to create ‘FBI profiles’ for
primary and secondary characters; what they should and shouldn’t be doing, and
finally realising that one needed to develop an intimate relationship with
anything before effectively dumping its rulebook ass.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: right;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">And earned, those
wings, I have, soaring now, eagle-eyed, holier-than-thou, over a mountain pass,
a road to nowhere on which I spy people driving, blinkered, believing they can
bypass monumental obstacles with the greatest of ease.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
The point is I believe something like joining a writing
site is necessary for any writer. An ‘apprenticeship’ if you like. But I wonder
in this age of indie publishing if they’re being forsaken; new writers going
straight for the jugular; publishing their stories without any kind of training
at all, and perhaps wondering why they can’t even give their books away?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
And some might just be; the writing site that I’m
(still) technically a member of has all but crumbled; been stagnant for months;
not updated by its administrators. And that’s a shame, for some kind of basic
training just makes ‘sheer’ sense. Doesn’t it? Not even Sir Edmund Hillary
decided to scale Everest without having some know how.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
Oh yes, and those 600k words I mentioned? Hardest thing
I ever did was to edit that story time and time again as my writing ability
evolved. Today though, I credit it for me putting into practice everything I
ever learned. Yes, an invaluable tool, although I really wouldn’t recommend
doing it that way at all; save yourself the trouble; learn how to write
properly from the outset. It’s all grown up now, divided into two books @ 200k
each, and I’ve very proud of my first born, even if it’s teen years were
terrible.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
Now, if you’ll excuse me, there’s a rather belligerent little Sherpa waiting….</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">(Originally published as a guest post on <a href="http://www.indiesunlimited.com/2012/09/21/writing-is-a-journey-by-s-p-mount/#more-26307" target="_blank">Indies Unlimited</a>)</span></div>
<!--EndFragment--></span></span></div>
Sam Walkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01042888599773098090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-848151707328717153.post-66598446253099402952012-10-03T12:33:00.000-07:002020-04-12T21:42:56.947-07:00Writing is a journey <br />
<div>
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<!--StartFragment-->
</span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;"></span></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;">
</span></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;">I often think of my writing journey as an expedition
through the mountains – and not just the local kind either; the ones you can
drive up and take a seat on a bench to admire the sunset over the city, no; I’m
talking Rockies here. Precipitous terrain. And what better than animal guides
to lead the way?</span></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;">
</span></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: right;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">And when I
started out that venture, an intensely passionate young wolf, treading ahead
without observing the lay of the land, I met with a sheer cliff-face, scoffing,
demanding I turn around, tail between my legs.<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;">
</span></span>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;">Like many, I started writing without having the
slightest clue, simply penning from the heart because the gift is inherent.
But, as I soon found out, that was incredibly naïve; much more than just that
required.</span></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #373737; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: right;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">An otter, quirky,
unorthodox, my passion intrinsic, but what did I know of the mountain at all,
the intimacy of its spiritual essence, its magnitude of pride & honour
commanding to be scaled?<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
I unapologetically broke every rule that I didn’t know
existed. Never knowing when to stop writing, until 600,000 words later. And
with zero editing, I proudly printed off my amazing book and hired a forklift
truck to take it up the post office to send it off to a publisher without even
having queried them first. Ye-s, not long before I’d become the next J K
Rowling. Ha!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: right;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A raven, highly
enthusiastic, perched atop lofty peaks, my name whistling between. Ye-s, I’d
soar that mountainous terrain. But I plummet instead, spiralling and
splattering.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
And then I discovered an amateur writing site, where
immediately I felt intimidated; people’s ability putting my efforts to shame;
using words like ‘exposition’ and ‘verisimilitude’ that I didn’t even
understand, let alone have a clue as to how to apply them to my work.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: right;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A lame goose now,
limping treacherous, infinite lands where I encounter many an obstacle; scaling
icy plateaus that slip me down deceptive paths into mouths of predators.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: right;">
Obviously I’d a great deal to learn, and so I dove
right in, surprisingly being quite well received for a novice. ‘Encouraging.”
And I soaked up reviews on not only my, but everyone else’s work, embraced
constructive criticism while seeing others becoming highly defensive, not
willing to learn (and who still can be; the same folks not moved on any; their
writing unchanged, still amateur after all these years).</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: right;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">And now I swim a
mountain torrent; a salmon, electric, focused, intuitive and wholly creative.
Upstream, to pinnacles low, but the vista hazy, a mist lingering a precipice
that still I might plunge.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
I learned how and how not to interact with online
society; the written word not always perceived as intended – especially amid
different culture; easily lost in translation – and becoming annoyed at the
sugar-coating being sprinkled liberally, artificial sweetening that, despite
what they say, still begets rot. And then I found my clique; invited to a
writers’ critique group where people stirred cups of libretto without taking
sugar at all.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: right;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I build a dam
upon those that would battle my wit to cross the river, for I am beaver, hear
me… well… thump… really. Cunning. My mental acuity, razor sharp, but
compassionate, generous, helpful and loyal too.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
In this more ‘serious’ writers’ group, I discovered the
importance of presentation in ways that maybe I hadn’t really thought of:
similar size paragraphs; a mixture of long and short sentences; avoiding
passive voice; learning how to use semicolons properly; the importance of
consistent tense; avoiding the word ‘was’; how to show and not tell, and much,
much more – invaluable stuff for a newbie.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: right;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pragmatic,
methodical, reaching higher plateaus where, as a bear, I enter a den and prance
out a deer, discover my humour, a natural intelligence that, when combined,
will write me well.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
And then, going onto my first writing course, I
pleasantly found that it’d all prepared me; I wasn’t clueless; actually had an
inkling of much that I was to be taught in class. But still, a great deal to
learn: the formulaic and technical aspects; how to create ‘FBI profiles’ for
primary and secondary characters; what they should and shouldn’t be doing, and
finally realising that one needed to develop an intimate relationship with
anything before effectively dumping its rulebook ass.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: right;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">And earned, those
wings, I have, soaring now, eagle-eyed, holier-than-thou, over a mountain pass,
a road to nowhere on which I spy people driving, blinkered, believing they can
bypass monumental obstacles with the greatest of ease.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
The point is I believe something like joining a writing
site is necessary for any writer. An ‘apprenticeship’ if you like. But I wonder
in this age of indie publishing if they’re being forsaken; new writers going
straight for the jugular; publishing their stories without any kind of training
at all, and perhaps wondering why they can’t even give their books away?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
And some might just be; the writing site that I’m
(still) technically a member of has all but crumbled; been stagnant for months;
not updated by its administrators. And that’s a shame, for some kind of basic
training just makes ‘sheer’ sense. Doesn’t it? Not even Sir Edmund Hillary
decided to scale Everest without having some know how.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
Oh yes, and those 600k words I mentioned? Hardest thing
I ever did was to edit that story time and time again as my writing ability
evolved. Today though, I credit it for me putting into practice everything I
ever learned. Yes, an invaluable tool, although I really wouldn’t recommend
doing it that way at all; save yourself the trouble; learn how to write
properly from the outset. It’s all grown up now, divided into two books @ 200k
each, and I’ve very proud of my first born, even if it’s teen years were
terrible.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
Now, if you’ll excuse me, there’s a rather belligerent little Sherpa waiting….</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">(Originally published as a guest post on <a href="http://www.indiesunlimited.com/2012/09/21/writing-is-a-journey-by-s-p-mount/#more-26307" target="_blank">Indies Unlimited</a>)</span></div>
<!--EndFragment--></span></span></div>
Sam Walkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01042888599773098090noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-848151707328717153.post-41701447524991703092012-10-02T18:44:00.000-07:002020-04-12T21:43:04.836-07:00'Ankle' sock puppeteers...?<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
No writer wants a bad review, but I think overly
exuberant reviews, when they come from people they know, can be just as
damaging.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
The writing of reviews, it seems, these days, almost demands perhaps
as much skill as the author of the book itself, many different kinds, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">genres</i> in themselves if you like; those
that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">are</i> genuine usually entirely
evident, but those that've been written by close acquaintances, sticking out
like sore thumbs; not fooling anyone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And outside of sock puppeteers, who are just downright <i>losers</i>, such
reviews are almost equally annoying, not to mention detrimental to the success of that book regardless
of how well intended they are.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Can
turn a potential reader away.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
For instance, below is usually the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">kind</i> of thing written by family or friends (perhaps a <i>bit</i> over the top by example, but you get the gist) or those people that
you struck up a rapport with on your writing journey; other writers still in
the early stages of their own journey maybe, but people who don't realise yet
that the rest of us with more experience have become increasingly savvy about such things. And all <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">trying</i> to help, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">yes</i>, but
usually even the greatest works don't come with such glowing recommendation as
some of the reviews we can see have attached to them, and so they can actually have the exact opposite
effect - especially when we read the sample of the work they pertain to, for I don't know about the rest of the population, but a writer can usually
tell from the first few words of<i> anything </i>as to whether it was written by someone
who's taken the time to learn at least something of their craft or not, but certainly a discerning reader will soon be able to tell bad from good too, regardless of what the reviews say.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">"This was the
best book in the history of the world, I highly recommend that you put down
whatever you are reading now because, nothing, and I mean NOTHING will ever
match up to this masterpiece by this exciting new author who has broken new
ground and kept me so enthralled by this storyline that I neglected my kids and
took a few days off work to finish it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>My life will never be the same again; I just wanted to dive into that world,
for I truly felt I'd become a part of it. I have never read anything quite as
good as this in my entire life. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Off
now to buy every other title by my son/daughter/bestie/dad/mum/cleaner/hairdresser/myself.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">If I could give
more than five stars, I would."<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
Personally, not many people in my real life have read
my own books, and I prefer it like that, because they don't have to like my
books because of our relationship, that's just ridiculous, but in general, while we all know
that, no one ever says they don't, not usually anyway, everybody so sugar-sweet, scared to offend, they'll usually say they do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But if they have read my work, they <i>can</i>
have a tendency to ask me what I want them to say in their review.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sweet sentiment, but entirely annoying;
I would hope that they enjoyed it enough to formulate their own opinion.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">"Whatever it
was it made you feel."</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is
usually what I say, and they look at me more funnily than normal, even, I
imagine, over email; wondering why I'm passing up the opportunity to
manipulate a potential five star review<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> -
</i>but then they're not in my writing world; they don't know the obvious
nature of these things<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"Unless of course you hated it,
and then I'd really prefer you didn't publicise an opinion." - </i>which, seemingly
goes against my point about honesty in reviews, but is just being honest, for
no writer actually <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">wants</i> to see a bad
review, no review at all being better imho.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
I've never really had a bad review, my couple of three stars still very good comments, just weren't to both those people's tastes in that particular book's entirety, and I know that's because,
whether you like my stories or not, I do strive to present the best possible work according to where I am in my writer's journey, have studied the art, I do slave over my words, a bit obsessive compulsive with them actually, and so for the most part, your 'bad
review' could only be so maybe because of a matter of<i> taste</i> - but then we would hope
that you'd be able to decide that from the very beginning, from the synopsis and the
sample, and that you'd move on to a work more suited.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
I get it though; those close to us want to show their support,
and giving an honest review with anything less than five stars could potentially
cause an atmosphere between us - as far as<i> they're</i> concerned - it's just not
what you do when you know the writer personally; your <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">duty</i> to show support regardless, as most do with most anything
else in life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And so the
old cliché about not mixing business with pleasure has never been truer in my
opinion, than the personal friends of an author when reviewing their books.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
I have even gone as far as asking my online writer associates
to be <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">less</i> than exuberant in their
reviews, have stressed the need for them to be honest, as over enthusiastic
reviews <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">are</i> obvious - as we're all
coming to know in the world of indie publishing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I've even had some writers change theirs from <i>something</i> akin to the example above, suggesting to them what they <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">might</i> focus on, but <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">only</i> if
they agree, and by example, I try to review their work completely honestly too, no
sugar coating, concentrating on what I thought was good about it only, contacting
them personally if there was something about the story I thought was completely
lacking to the point that I felt I could <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">only</i>
give a bad review if I were to be sincere, usually choosing not to
give one at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And so, if they
can't take that level of honesty which is only intended to help, they have no place in
my circle of writer friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
then, I think they all know that about me by now, as do the people in my 'real' life.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
I sometimes have no interest in the genre they write in
either, e.g. if its overly religious, and so I don't want to read it at all, and
sometimes when I have felt obligated to reciprocate, I've just become
completely annoyed with it, and so I tell them so.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> It doesn't mean it's bad, no, its just not for me, and i</span>n those cases, I just cannot bring myself to write a review - after all, as a completely honest person (of whom you should be entirely aware,
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">apparently</i>, for having stated that here about myself in the first place) saying there that 'I hate this kind of thing' might not go down
too well,<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> would</i> cause a rift. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And of course, it <i>could</i> be the best
thing since sliced bread for those who <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">do</i>
like to get all spiritual and shit, but <i>I'm</i> just not qualified, or at least not
the best person to judge, because I would <i>never</i> have looked twice at that book normally if
I'd never known the person who wrote it.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
There are many other kinds of reviews too; those that
simply provide a synopsis of the story; information <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">already</i> on the book's page, sometimes with spoilers, but not mentioning the cleverness, the characterisation, the eloquence and other stuff we as writers
would prefer to see mentioned, recognition of the fact that what we worked
really hard at trying to put across; the emotion we wanted to induce from a
reader, all better than another recap of the story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And while some are completely
innocently written almost as synopses, I can't help but think that some reviewers
either do this thinking that they're helping, or maybe because they really have
nothing good to say at all - and in which case it would be better not to
comment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or maybe, it's just that,
as many say, they're not writers themselves, and therefore feel a bit
intimidated, don't know <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">what</i> the hell
to say, but feel they have to put down <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">something</i>
out of respect because they <i>do</i> know you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But that's alright, even a couple of words, like, 'I really enjoyed this
book' comes across more genuine than an over the top rave review - unless of
course the book really <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">does</i> merit one,
and that, I can't help but think, will come across too; the words will
magically appear without you even trying; not as contrived as a review that'd been manufactured to <i>try </i>and say the same thing.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
I have some such genuine comments on some of my own works and,
that if I'd known those people personally, I might've asked them to bring it
down a notch, but then, perhaps I'm analysing <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">too</i> much; think people will be suspicious of them because of what <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">does</i> go on, but perhaps I'm looking <i>wa-y</i> too hard and I tell myself that I do have to remember that some
people really <i>do </i>enjoy people's books that much where they do become almost animated
about it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And that is always highly
appreciated.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
It's often said that writers are good 'liars' because
they spend their time creating stories, I know I am, but I only use my powers
for good in giving reviews <i>and </i>in life, could never feel comfortable
'sock-puppeting', would feel ashamed of myself; kidding no one but me, despite
my skill for being creative in that I could be entirely convincing that they'd been written by someone else; know how to change writing styles accordingly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But this kind of tactic just wouldn't
sit well with the essence of who I am, would have the exact opposite effect on me in fact; I'd feel like a total loser, <i>I'd</i> know they weren't real, and so I guess I have a good sense of integrity, which is why I can sleep at night; no, no one can <i>ever</i> accuse me of such underhanded practice should I ever become that well known.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
I can't help but think a good review is one that <i>does</i>
rave a bit, does give four or five stars, but <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">also</i>, somewhere in-between the glowing recommendation maybe something
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">else </i>pointed out about it too (but,
again, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">only</i> if merited; don't go
looking for it) not necessarily negative, per se, but simply an opinion, perhaps an
element the reader would liked to have seen or didn't enjoy too much, or what they
felt might've been better. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Whatever</i>, but a
good balanced opinion, and most of all, a good honest review, for it is often
this that readers judge a book by, and especially, other writers; I know <i>I</i> do.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
Lastly, I do see this topic coming up all the time, as I
do blogs and comments expressing a general intolerance of people who've never
tried in any way to hone their craft, simply vomiting up a story and putting it
up for sale because they <i>can</i>; most not realising that, like anything, writing is a <i>trained</i> skill, yes, even the best talent needs honed to be able to present a
professional body of work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And so,
I think it's only a matter of time before those people realise that they'll get absolutely nowhere with that kind of approach, together with creating false
reviews, or by allowing their friends to write glowing references for them, which as I've said, speak for themselves, for ultimately they'll make absolutely no money - which is
surely why they're doing it as opposed to the 'love' that a real writer has for
the written word, the laborious part of it treasured, embraced, as it should be. And when they get fed up with trying, realise that the rest
of us or onto them, then perhaps things really will settle down as they disappear, and we who try to do it <i>all </i>the honest way, the hard way, won't be grouped in and bogged down with all the bad apples that are currently in that barrow for sale.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> A candied apple might be attractive on the surface, but it needs to be succulent on the inside too.</span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Sam Walkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01042888599773098090noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-848151707328717153.post-77845576504377825022012-09-28T21:42:00.000-07:002020-04-12T21:43:20.531-07:00These dog treats will kill your dog... VERY suddenly.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
I just watched a very interesting documentary on CBC's Marketplace about this popular chicken jerky treat which I've always bought at Costco; thousands of dogs are dying all over... including my last one... of sudden kidney disease because of these treats, and its been going on for years.<br />
<br />
There is something in the glycerin. Check out their Facebook page to see what others say, and also the CBC's website on this documentary which, I understand is also going to air through the US on Saturday 29 September. <br />
<br />
These and other treats made in China, should be avoided at all cost. And the packaging, as do many dog treats, fool you into THINKING they're made in your own country. Canada, doesn't even have regulation for dog food. <br />
<br />
Love, your dog? Spread the word.<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/episodes/2012-2013/fighting-for-fido">CBC Article/vide</a>o<br />
<a href="http://www.facebook.com/waggintrain?ref=ts&fref=ts" target="_blank">Waggin' Train's Facebook page</a><br />
<br />
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<!--StartFragment-->
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: "lucida grande";">This documentary on Marketplace, made me truly angry; I gave
my dog a Waggin' Train chicken jerky treat every day and he too died very
suddenly of kidney disease. Thankfully, I haven't been to Costco in months,
where I used to buy them, so my current dog hasn't had any for a long time, but
coincidentally, or is it, as a young dog, he no longer gets sick like he used
to for no apparent reason. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: "lucida grande";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: "lucida grande";">Rest assured I will do my part in spreading the word
about this. It also makes me sick that there is no regulation of dog food in
Canada. I don't care what this company's videos say, how they spin it; all the tests that came
back from various countries, with suspicious elements in them, belonged to Waggin Train treats all made in China. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: "lucida grande";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: "lucida grande";">That's good
enough for me.</span></div>
<!--EndFragment--><br />Sam Walkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01042888599773098090noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-848151707328717153.post-10093884060356369552012-09-12T17:51:00.000-07:002020-12-29T19:22:54.841-08:00My book is being showcased todayToday 'Indies Unlimited' are featuring my new and improved <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Prickly-Scots-Pt-I-ebook/dp/B004XWC0J0/ref=la_B004JRF6R2_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1347497345&sr=1-3" target="_blank">Prickly Scots</a> book on their wonderful site dedicated to showcasing indie writers. So I would truly appreciate your support to help spread the word by coming and clicking on any or all of the social media buttons on its page, and even if you could leave a word or two, that would be amazing. My writer friends, I'm relying on you especially, and If you haven't heard of Indies Unlimited, it offers many different ways for quality indie authors to get noticed; sneak peeks like this, which also includes getting listed in their library for a year, guest posts, competitions, and all manners of other interesting ways. you should check it out. Please don't make me look like a 'Billy-no-mates now, will ya?' <br />
<br />
Thanks for your help and support. <a href="http://www.indiesunlimited.com/2012/09/12/sneak-peek-prickly-scots-part-i/" target="_blank">Click here</a> to take a look at the sneak peek and hopefully you will click on the social media buttons below it - just pretend its one of those meme cartoon thingies or a cat picture.Sam Walkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01042888599773098090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-848151707328717153.post-76521017309337300302012-08-17T19:43:00.000-07:002020-04-12T21:29:49.151-07:00My writing journey over the Alps<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></h4>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 6.0pt;">
As I wandered through those Alps; arduous, never-ending, I encountered
many an obstacle along the journey; reached icy plateaus demanding I go back
the way I came, to re-tread paths that I thought I'd conquered, and becoming stuck
there, sometimes, exhausted, to simply hibernate in a cave, a lone wolf, naïve,
hungry, no oasis to quench my thirst.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 6.0pt;">
And I wonder <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">why</i>,
for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sometimes</i> I'd thought it was
pointless, sometimes <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">still,</i> as well. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And besides, there was a road that I could've
driven, as others do, a more direct route, smooth and simple, undemanding, crossing
boundaries with ease, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">apparently</i>, and
all that should be an obstacle.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 6.0pt;">
But what would I know of the mountain at all, the intimacy of
its spiritual essence, its disposition, for those would've eluded my grasp, the
magnitude of pride and honour that commands to be scaled?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But my passion intrinsic, my
sensibilities committed to the nature of the beast within, like no other I
know.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I'd soar that mountainous
terrain, sprout wings, learn how to fly, yes, and pass that old road by. </div>
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And when I did start out on that venture, blind at first, nocturnal,
skulking in the dark of night, eyes eager, flashing; green, then red, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">so green</i>, and then<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> so</i> red, a young wolf, arrogant, treading ahead without observing
the lay of the land, those very rules dictated by the head of the pack from
which I chose to stray to charter new territory with maverick way, and where
sense was the only thing to be found on sheer cliff faces that scoffed and told
me to turn around.</div>
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And I did, discovered trails to at least pinnacles low, and clambered
upon them, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">scrambled</i>, my body, exhausted,
starved, depleted, resting there till dawn when I could survey my domain, all
that I would claim to know.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But when
daylight broke, my imaginary reward; that vista, hazy, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">still</i>, an early morning mist lingering on a precipice, a gaping
mouth to swallow me whole, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">still</i>, daring
me to find a foothold to climb to the limit of the sky where an abyss of
imagination waited to be soared, or to plummet me to a bottomless pit of no
substance.</div>
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And catching sight of higher peaks off in the distance, my name
whistling between them, I reached a treacherous terrain of which I knew better
now, jagged, unwelcoming, infinite, detrimental to body and mind, but<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> inviting</i> all the same, challenging,
goading me all the while, in that I did not have strength, dared me to continue
that quest at my will, at my peril, threatened that it'd eaten stronger than I.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes, easy to hitch a lift, that road
right there, beckoning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But what of
respect; of staking my flag?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No,
that road has no end, no honour, no destination where I would go.</div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Forward,</i> the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">only</i> way, the hard way, and as it should
be, lest I lay down and died, lest I relinquished all that I could prove myself
to be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And so I ate but a berry or two along the way, to sustain the
body that feeds my mind, as I dragged it across a rocky terrain of high and
low, my latent madness to accompany me, hearing it whisper all the while, encouraging,
but mocking me all at once, confusing me, as I inched forward, for I could <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">only</i> inch, to reach out and grab that,
which came into my sight.</div>
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Yes, I summoned that strength instilled in me from another
terrain, another madness never mine to claim, but of which I suffered, conquered
against the odds to return me strong, that brought me to my battle here today, where,
at last, I may reach, on hands and knees, dizzying heights of a pinnacle of
which I may breathe thin air to leave me breathless, for through my blindness,
the very pain of my vision, I see vistas, laid out before me in pastures bright,
and a mossy hill to roll down upon that will stop me at the feet of a couple of
Sherpa's waiting at the foot of the Himalayas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I don't need <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">them</i>
now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Do</i> I?<br />
<br />
"Fuck off Sherpas," I said.</div>
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**Important Note**</h2>
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The above post started out as a blog post about my writer's journey, it was only meant to notify my readers that an end of an era is here; in that I have actually been able to put the words, 'Final Edition' on my Prickly Scots titles. Many will know that I have written many other stories since, but Prickly Scots has seen me through the years of my training, was the first book I wrote as an adult, initially, without any kind of training, and has been rewritten and rewritten time and again the more my skill evolved <i>with</i> the necessary training and by gaining experience as a writer - my Golden Gate Bridge, if you like.</div>
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However, over the last few weeks, the entire book got yet another overhaul, each chapter lovingly edited three times each, to try and implement something of the writer I am today - a very hard task when you have to deal with all the errors and rookie mistakes of your previously amateur self; I could've written a whole new book in this last month. And I found while doing it this time, that I knew it would be the last, I didn't actually need, or want to change it much at all - a first. That of course, as easy as the edit was this time, brought me to a realisation, of how far I've come these last seven years; from the early days of joining an amateur writing site, where I started to understand more of the formulaic aspects, onto becoming top writer there, to the writer I am today, who has garnered the attention of some pretty important people, including, recently, a highly respected international best selling author who sent me a lovely message based on something else I wrote, and told me that she had purchased one of my books. <i>Humph</i>. Now, if that doesn't mean that I've scaled a mountain or two, then I don't know what would. I can only hope that it might hold up to her expectation.</div>
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Again, Prickly Scots Pts I & II are finally complete, if you have either of these, or the collective volume, please update your copy on both <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Prickly-Scots-Pt-I-ebook/dp/B004XWC0J0/ref=la_B004JRF6R2_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1345257240&sr=1-2" target="_blank">Amazon</a> and <a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/141097" target="_blank">Smashwords</a> (especially if it’s a <i>really</i> old one, my <i>God</i> <i>please</i> do that!) and make sure that the copy you have says 'Final Edition' under the title on the first page.</div>
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Finally, not only did I complete Prickly Scots', but also earlier this year, I revisited my <i>entire</i> body of work, and brought it all up to scratch too, so, if you own <i>any</i> of my other books, they all may be updated (even if they don't say Final Edition) for they are all far more sophisticated than their early editions were - and beautifully formatted and indexed too.</div>
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I have no choice now to get on with all my new stuff now that my babies have finally left home. I might even go out in the sun, and... oh yes... I found a little puppy under my desk.... his name is MacGregor, <i>apparently</i>.</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span">Save a buck and get the two books for one here at <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Prickly-Scots-Pts-II-ebook/dp/B006WVNQZW/ref=la_B004JRF6R2_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1345257295&sr=1-7" target="_blank">Amazon</a> or <a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/209434" target="_blank">Smashwords</a></span></div>
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Sam Walkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01042888599773098090noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-848151707328717153.post-8501974779923682392012-07-11T20:23:00.000-07:002020-04-12T21:30:26.178-07:00When is a cliché not a cliché?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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When you put it together with another one.</div>
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With the complete rewrite of both Prickly Scots Pt's I and II nearing completion (go get the latest free update if you already have the book; Pt I contains many, many changes; fifteen additional chapters you'll want to read before Pt II is released, and the beginning of the book completely rewritten) I decided that perhaps the otherwise serious covers might throw people off as to the true <i>nature</i> of this book - largely a comedy. After reading recently about the importance of book covers, I decided to have fun with it instead. However, the picture is not without merit... rather appropriate, <i>actually</i>, considering some of the irascible characters to be found in the story... namely a sentient flower race that take on the traits of whichever country the mysterious Blue Phenomenon has sent them to. </div>
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I wonder which country that could be?</div>
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<b>Note: 5 August 2012 - This book is temporarily unavailable.</b></div>
Sam Walkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01042888599773098090noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-848151707328717153.post-24058995808637549882012-07-09T14:10:00.001-07:002020-04-12T21:30:50.268-07:00Words are (truly) Cheap<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #111111; font-family: "times";">So true!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #111111; font-family: "times";">Why is it that everything, and I
mean, <i>everything </i>in life, is so bloody expensive, mass-produced or not -
well... that is, <i>all</i>, except e-books?</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #111111; font-family: "times";">But back to this picture here; it
absolutely blows my mind that people will pay this, even upwards of $5.00, for
(oftentimes, a weak) coffee – and oftentimes more than just once a day too –
something that took only seconds to make by anyone at all, and that can be
dismissed almost as instantly as simply being a poor experience if it's
distasteful, but an experience, no doubt, they'll repeat over and over again, yet,
most don’t want to pay more than $2.99, for what can often be the result of
years of slogging, to read a lovingly compiled book; many expecting to pay just
99c – which, if it also happens to be weak, they’ll feel completely hard done
by and suspicious of every other book that dares to ask for such an outrageous
price. There’s something wrong
with this picture, literally; people obviously willing to feed their stomach
willy-nilly, but not the mind; insult to their intelligence or not, a book has
more value, surely, than what will end up at the bottom of a toilet bowl when
all's said and done? Even if some books are better deposited there too.
But don't the two normally go together; body and mind?</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #111111; font-family: "times";">Why then, do we put up with being
so undervalued as authors? The answer to that is of course obvious, all
authors know that; the indie world of publishing making it easy for anyone at
all to publish a book. This results in millions of people all trying to
undercut each other in the hopes that their cheapie will sell millions.
But only the lucky few achieve that kind of success, usually with supreme
marketing skill - or the funds to pay someone to do it for them - providing of
course they've produced a well-written book. Marketing, a harder task
even than actually <i>writing</i> a book, in my own considerable effort (which
after six months of following advice and sacrificing much of my valuable
writing time, to that end, religiously putting the work in, but no matter how I
much I do, no matter how many places I advertise, I don't see a difference in
sales, and am at the point of seriously considering going back to contacting
agents (<i>they</i> shouldn't be as busy, these days, <i>should</i> they?)</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #111111; font-family: "times";">Don't get me wrong; undoubtedly
it's a wonderful opportunity for authors to publish books that mainstream
publishers perhaps won't even glance at, but there <i>has</i> to be some kind
of distinction other than price, to discern between those who've actually taken
the time to study the art and put their life and soul into writing books.
They need to break free from the tsunami of mediocrity and amateurishness
that can barely splash around a few words; people with no understanding of the
formulaic aspects of writing because they haven't bothered to take it seriously
at all. Yes, the slush pile, as far as I can tell, anyway, is now on
the reader's computer in these modern times, via Amazon and Smashwords and
other distributors, and no longer just the traditional publishers' desk - which,
for all we've ever said about <i>them</i>, we might now have a better
understanding of. But still... books are no different from anything else
that's widely available; and so, I ask again, why is it, in an expensive world
of everything else, that e-books, and the talent that's put into many of them,
are ALL EXPECTED to be so underpriced?</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #151515; font-family: "times";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #111111; font-family: "times";">Just like the thousands of coffee
shops we have to choose from, and anything else for that matter, there's good
and there's bad, cheap and expensive, Dollar stores and Harrods, and everything
in-between. Why then, when many people see a book priced at more than
$2.99, do they balk at it? Why, even, when they see it being offered for
free, which I personally completely don't agree with outside of promotional
giveaways, and which did absolutely nothing for me in Amazon's KDP programme,
do they value it even less than <i>that</i>? It just doesn't make
sense. It doesn't seem fair. But then, the world never has been.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #151515; font-family: "times";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #111111; font-family: "times";">This kind of low pricing is
completely outrageous; any hard working author's work <i>should</i> be
rewarded; they have a great skill, and, if they're like me, give up many
aspects of normal life to bring the world stories for the love of it - and by
author, I mean, any who've actually taken the time to at least <i>try</i> and
hone their craft, whether still early on in their writing journey or not, and
not one who simply thinks they can sit and type out a story because everyone at the BBQ say they're hilarious when recounting what happened last Saturday
night.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #151515; font-family: "times";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #111111; font-family: "times";">And so, I’m happy to start seeing
that certain organizations are beginning to try and come up with ways to
separate the English from the (double) Dutch. But perhaps an entrance
exam, or <i>something</i>, like the one I had to pass to be employed as a
freelance writer, or maybe we should have to prove something of our credentials<i>
</i>at least - I don't know; I'm not the one with the answer, just a lowly
writer, working for a pittance. But one needs to be arrived at, soon, for
true talent deserves to emerge from under the tidal wave that is the sea of
indie publishing. Hopefully, these companies are doing this with a view
towards upping the prices of well-written books, too, and that people will
start to bear in mind the old cliché, 'that you gets what you pays for'.
With everyone and their dog crying for pay rises these days, I think its high
time, authors had a commensurate level of compensation as well - writing simply
for the love of it, or not; if it's professional, published and available to
the public, then it deserves more than the paltry amounts we seem to have
accepted that they go for in our otherwise over-priced with everything else
world. Four or five books that can be kept for an eternity = the price of
one designer coffee, gone in minutes? Hmmm....</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #151515; font-family: "times";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #111111; font-family: "times";">Also, on the whole coffee analogy
thing, it seems appropriate to mention that it's unfortunate that the most
popular chains are where most people tend to flock to, of course this happens
because everyone else goes there, the human race inclined to be automaton,
mainstream an inevitability. But hasn't individual, <i>true</i>, talent,
supposed to have been liberated in the indie publishing world? Were we
not supposed to be sitting in <i>independent</i> coffee shops stirring Grande
cups of libretto at our leisure by now, chewing on our grubby laptops while
staring into the universe and sharing the ideas that came from the strange
abyss of imagination we've always travelled because that's what the people said
they wanted?</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #151515; font-family: "times";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #111111; font-family: "times";">Why then, in a so-called indie
world of publishing, should we have to, increasingly, feel the need to appeal
to a mentality that has no problem shelling out a fortune for a cup of froth
simply because it's the flavour of the month? Why do many writers jump on
the copycat bandwagon that will inevitably drown the rest of us in the way that
wizards and vampires (and undoubtedly to come, fifty ways to drink a coffee)
have done? Indie or not, someone, somewhere, is <i>still</i> telling the
world what they're going to like next... and that's a shame. Fashions and
trends are one thing; but everything, everyone, pretty much, is the same all
over the world. And the ironic thing... people actually do this for the
money? Wake up and smell the sea-salt, that boat sailed; you're supposed
to be an inventor; YOU create the next big thing.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #151515; font-family: "times";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #111111; font-family: "times";">As Alanis once said, <i>I hate the
world today</i>. And by the world, I do of course mean many aspects of
the Internet and it's anti-social media - which I pretend to slot into with
only a slightly better shape than I ever did in the real one as an oft misunderstood
artist type. And sadly, for all I hated about the real world too, it
seems to have stopped percolating different varieties of coffee <i>altogether</i>,
blending them all now in a huge gigantic melting pot that has cheapened, but not in <i>my </i>book,
the <i>true</i> art of what being a barista might once have been.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #151515; font-family: "times";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #111111; font-family: "comic sans ms";">Drama Queen</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #151515; font-family: "times";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #111111; font-family: "comic sans ms";">Poets are fairies… kind of</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #151515; font-family: "times";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #111111; font-family: "comic sans ms";">spreading their mystical word</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #151515; font-family: "times";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #111111; font-family: "comic sans ms";">All with long hair… probably</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #151515; font-family: "times";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #111111; font-family: "comic sans ms";">and glasses… sensitive rhymester nerds</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #151515; font-family: "times";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #111111; font-family: "comic sans ms";">Yeah, can be seen in coffee shops…
usually</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #151515; font-family: "times";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #111111; font-family: "comic sans ms";">staring blankly out the window</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #151515; font-family: "times";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #111111; font-family: "comic sans ms";">herbal tea in coffee mugs… maybe</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #151515; font-family: "times";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #111111; font-family: "comic sans ms";">stirring everything but inspired
libretto</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #151515; font-family: "times";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #111111; font-family: "comic sans ms";">Most of them smoke weed… <i>obviously</i></span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #151515; font-family: "times";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #111111; font-family: "comic sans ms";">I mean come on; poems are serious shit
man</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #151515; font-family: "times";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #111111; font-family: "comic sans ms";">Stoking up words of paranoia...
typically</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #151515; font-family: "times";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #111111; font-family: "comic sans ms";">and calling it enlightened inspiration</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #151515; font-family: "times";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #111111; font-family: "comic sans ms";"><i>Ye-ah</i>... they’re all fucking weirdoes,
<i>poets</i></span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #151515; font-family: "times";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #111111; font-family: "comic sans ms";">floating around with chewed pens and
grubby laptops</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #151515; font-family: "times";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #111111; font-family: "comic sans ms";">smiling melancholy at nature and stars…
fucking <i>souls</i></span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #151515; font-family: "times";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #111111; font-family: "comic sans ms";">Get a real job... ya freaked out crazy
crackpots</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #151515; font-family: "times";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #111111; font-family: "comic sans ms";">- S P Mount -</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #111111;">
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #252525;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">
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Sam Walkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01042888599773098090noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-848151707328717153.post-43679466850966519872012-05-23T12:54:00.005-07:002020-04-12T21:32:12.415-07:00Puppy: Pee, You, Pee-Pee. Why?<br />
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Most people say 'good morning, lovely weather' when you
encounter them on a lonely street - well, that is, if they don't walk by you looking everywhere
but in your direction. But when
you have a dog, it’s a definite factor that makes you <i>have</i> to talk to strangers,
and okay, the weather <i>is</i> unseasonably inclement thereby averting that particular cliché
this morning, but here's a conversation that's seen me giggling since I came
in from my first walk of the day - talk about inspiration for a character in one of my books. But be warned, it's pretty disgusting, so leave now if
you're all about bluebells, fireflies and butterflies.</div>
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"Is he friendly?" a woman in a baseball cap shouted
from half a mile away above the traffic noise on Broadway; people driving to work and the students on their way to UBC packed into any number of hi-speed number 99 busses like
refugees on a banana boat, a rush hour on a road that runs right through Vancouver that's akin to a black hole vortex.</div>
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And even though I knew what she'd said just by the very
predictability of it, my piss elegant sensibilities showed their annoyance
that someone as refined as me would be expected to scream back on the street to
tell her that my miniature schnauzer, freshly groomed and on his lead, was in
fact social.</div>
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"<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Excuse</i>
me?" I said, cocking my ear, getting closer and showing an obvious
irritation, not really one for talking to strangers anyway, let alone first
thing.</div>
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Getting closer, I saw she was part Native American and perhaps
fully lesbanian, everything about her unabashed too, from body language to
dress sense, a person who knew exactly who she was and no problem displaying
herself to the world. <i>Admirable</i>; despite being a
very private person who loves to keep you guessing, I <i>love</i> people like
that. Some way behind her, a
scruffy looking dog whom I was concerned might run out onto the main
thoroughfare, as some dogs do when they see another regardless of
how well trained they are, was busy sniffing in the tufts of weeds outside an apartment block that needs knocking down, if you ask me.</div>
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"Is he friendly?" She repeated in that what might be
considered a red neck Canadian working class accent.</div>
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"Yes, but, yours isn't going to run out onto the road
when he sees him, is he?" I said, me being a little bit of a dog whisperer; predicting how it might react, her little dog still
sniffing something or other, yet to notice <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">us</i>.</div>
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"Acht, he's been hit once before, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">eh</i>... he knows better," she said completely unconcerned, which
made me laugh inside; already able to tell who this person might be; her sense of
humour all too rare, one that could've even been Scottish - <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">might've</i> been, actually; many Natives in
Vancouver, apparently, with some Scottish blood in them (usually from their
grandfather, for <i>whatever</i> reason).</div>
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And sure enough, little scruffy came toddling along; his nose
soon up the nether regions of my dog, sniffing him with an urgency as mine tried to
turn around to do the same, resulting in that never-ending snaking, nose-to-tail thing.</div>
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"Is he a Schnauzer?" She said, a gruff element to her voice, to which I replied politely that he was, "Half
Pomeranian and Yorkie", she said pointing at hers, "fat little
bastard, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">old</i>, twelve, getting bald, doesn't
know if he's comin' or goin' <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">eh</i>...
how old's yours?"</div>
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"Three and a half," I said, completely amused, my
morning grimace turning upside down now as I watched the dogs compete in their
pissing competition against the newspaper deposit stand outside the convenience
store, the old Korean lady inside straining her neck to try and disapprove through the bars on the window and a plethora of telephone card posters.</div>
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At that point Scruffy started licking up the amber/yellow pee-pee that'd formed a little puddle in a crevice on the ground, and
the woman just looked at him as he did, completely unconcerned. Now, I'm well aware that you shouldn't
really touch someone else's dog, let alone push them in case they snap at you,
despite the fact you might otherwise be Dr Doolittle, but I couldn't help
myself; I would never allow my dog to lick a jaggy nettle (as we call stinging nettles in Scotland) in case it'd been peed on, never mind the sting, let alone drink from a fountain of it.</div>
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"Eew, don't do that puppy," I said, gently trying to
push him away, but Scruffy's focus on the pee entirely, he refused to budge. "God, dogs are so <i>disgusting</i>
sometimes," I said, trying to walk away in an effort for the woman to
do the same if only to stop her dog from drinking the pee-pee. But she didn't; just standing there
waiting until it'd finished, and then she laughed.</div>
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"Hah... I'm sure most men would want to do the same thing if
they thought they could get away with it," she said, as I raised my eyes
at her, not sure if I'd heard right, outside of the entire male species just being insulted, what kind of person says that to <i>anyone</i>, let alone a stranger they just met?</div>
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"Uh, I don't <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">think</i>
so." I said, clearly wanting to leave now, finding myself actually <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">contemplating </i>what she'd said because I'm a deep thinker, already pretty sure I could
probably find some truth to it, if I was so inclined, on the Internet. (I'm not.)</div>
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"What's his name?" She said, insisting on keeping me
engaged.</div>
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"MacGregor," I said.</div>
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"Ooh <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">that's</i>
sophisticated," she said, and pointed at hers, again laughing heartily. "<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Poochy</i>."</div>
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I laughed all the way home, and still giggling at her complete
candidness to the point I had to write it down here.</div>
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Don’t know if I could spend a whole day with someone like
this, but I am sure I could create a wonderful character from her if I did. And I'm pretty sure Poochy
probably has a very good little life - a true 'dog's life', as it were - regardless of his disgusting habits.</div>
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Who say's I'm a snob?</div>
Sam Walkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01042888599773098090noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-848151707328717153.post-57874218600336798282012-04-17T18:59:00.001-07:002017-03-10T22:33:54.466-08:00The Groom Room<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">This blog is posted here purely for anyone living in Vancouver, BC, doing a search for The Groom Room - <span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: none; line-height: 26px;">3728 Oak Street, Vancouver, BC V6H 2M3 - a dog grooming salon. Anyone</span> else might be disinterested. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">DON'T GO THERE!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">This is what the owner, a bitchy little man, says on his website: </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 26px;"><span class="fcolor_blue" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Jay Jay's</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #4d4d4f;"> </span>goal is to see his clients leaving happy and satisfied.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 26px;">PHHHT!</span></div>
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Could've fooled me buddy! Read on to find out why; but at least it gave me good cause for a blog rant:</div>
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**</div>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
The Gloom Room</h2>
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Are we really pampering our pets when we take them to a
grooming salon, or are we putting them through a day of hairdressing hell?</div>
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There's a lady I know, whom, as a white man, I
affectionately call my 'Chinese Mom'.
This lady lives in the past; thinks of computers as what the bible
calls 666, yet is always asking me to look up things on my 'machine' for her; companies
with good reputations for both maintenance work on her property and reputable
businesses to service items like her 1960's answering machine or a cobbler for
her thirty-yr-old boots. Yes, refusing
to update anything, or buy new, despite the fact she has more money than a
small African country.</div>
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She calls me every other night to discuss the state of
the world today; her philosophy; 'nothing's as good quality as back in the old
days' - which, trust me, she's still immersed within behind the mysterious wrought
iron gates that fortify both front and back entrances to her building, heavily
padlocked too, her house, a veritable and well-preserved museum depicting life exactly
as it was in the last century; stuffed with pristine artefacts, good as the day
they were bought. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Better</i>, maybe.</div>
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Her most consistent observation is about how people
aren't polite any more, that they're unprofessional, lack-lustre, self-serving,
and, for the service industry, astonished that its staff just don't seem to care.</div>
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Now, of a different generation, I've always raised my
eyes at that; thinking she just hasn't moved with the times; still expects
everyone to smile and say 'good day', servicemen to wear peaked caps and give a
cheery wave from the window of their trucks as if we were all living in a
fifties utopia. But she might just
have a point; <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">may</i> have converted me,
after all, made me wish that I'd been born in a different era.</div>
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The horrendous experience I had this morning at 'The
Groom Room' (or as I found out, more gloom, than groom) - a dog grooming
service on Oak Street, Vancouver -
left me stunned, and, as an otherwise quiet and calm person, saw me screaming
like an Irish fishwife as I left the place, my blood not just <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">proverbially</i> boiling, my eyes popping
like a futuristic gargoyle on crack, other customers needing to duck lest they
got zapped by the laser cross-fire of my glare.</div>
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First, I should point out that The Groom Room's website
goes to great lengths to say how professional they are, praises the owner as if
he's the second coming; is comprised of self-praising comments and testimonials
comprising of, in my opinion as a writer well used to deciphering such applaud,
manufactured reviews, and, if not, at least purely selective; not open to
receiving <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">genera</i>l comments from their
customers. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Now</i> I know why. But we have social media to express ourselves,
these days - platforms not <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">just</i> for Kamikaze
Stanley Cup rioters to jump from.
Yes, word of mouth, not literal anymore as might've been in latter day,
but a way to share our experiences, good and bad, to get to the truth of
it. And this one was so
horrendous, I want to shout it from the satellite in space.</div>
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When I was told to come back five and a half hours
later to pick up my dog, I expressed complete surprise at that length of time,
questioned it, and was told, before the girl going into great detail as to what
the procedures were for grooming a dog, that 'its not just your dog we have to
groom'.</div>
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"Yes, "I said, "I do know what's
involved, but I <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">did</i> make an
appointment. Are you telling me
that my dog will be locked in a cage for most of the day, waiting around at
every turn for the next stage, grooming, washing, drying, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">whatever</i>?"</div>
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And I'm not sure she understood English exactly, as
they do state that they have an 'open room policy', but quickly, she said 'yes'
to this, and obviously shocked that I was unhappy with that answer; convinced,
I suppose, by her blank expression, that that's what I'd <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">wanted</i> to hear.</div>
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"Well that's a bit <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">much</i>, " I said, again, still maintaining calm; knowing how to
be civilised, "what happened to my <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">appointment</i>,
I don't want to leave him in a cage for the entire day; he's just not used to
that?"</div>
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"Well, you still want us to do?" she said,
obviously wanting me to say 'no' now.</div>
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"Well I'm here now, and he is overdue, so I
suppose so," I said against my better judgement, "but I will have to
reconsider in the future."</div>
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Then, someone, apparently, the owner, comes through
from the grooming station, the guy whose managed many stores before opening his
own according to the website that also claims he might just be 'best in show'
himself, but in actual fact, surlier than a pit-bull with a toothache, the kind
of owner you might see flouncing pretentiously through a high end
hair salon, and declares that they 'don't have time to do <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">him</i> today', dismissing my dog with his hand as he saw to the next
customer, obviously deeming me an awkward one off the bat; a cheek to have even
questioned their operation.</div>
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"Well, after that... <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">no</i>; I don't want him to stay here now, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">anyway</i>," I retorted, still, relatively calmly.</div>
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"<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Whatever</i>,'
he said, as I walked out the door, again with a flick of his hand.</div>
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Yes, the top-dog owner of this apparently highly
acclaimed business, shouted at me more bitchily than the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">actual</i> bitches running around him behind the counter, more-so than
two drag queens double-booked in a sleazy night-club might have each other. And so <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">that's</i> when I lost it; coming back through the door to shout like
the aforementioned fishwife; pointing out the actual meaning of the word
'appointment', closing with a statement that he can look forward to a 'nice
testimonial' on his website - but then, of course, they don't <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">invite</i> honest <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">general</i> opinion.</div>
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"<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Yeah, yeah,
yeah,"</i> he shouted, again with a flick of his wrist, regardless that he
was checking in the other victim
a man in a business suit who might just have been <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">happy</i> to have his dog incarcerated for his working day.</div>
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And while as a business owner myself, I don't <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">always</i> agree that the customer is right,
I damn well would never speak to, or dismiss anyone like the owner of this
business did to me; a new customer, who simply, and reasonably, I feel, objected
to a five and a hour so called 'appointment' to groom my mini-schnauzer, leaving
him in what is tantamount to a production line, one where he wouldn't get to
pee, eat, walk, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">nothing</i>.</div>
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Dog business is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">big</i>
business, in this city and I thought it was too good to be true from such, an,
apparently, highly acclaimed place; getting an appointment with only a few days
notice, but if I'd known my puppy would be stuck in an assembly line for the
entire day, I wouldn't have bothered booking.</div>
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So beware; find a groomer that actually works to a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">schedule</i>, dedicates time to your pet -
which generally should be about two and a hours to three for most small to
mid-sized dogs, in my (other) experience - and not pushed and shoved around
waiting for the next stage in the grooming process, oftentimes cooped up in a
small kennel in a hot room and feeling abandoned.</div>
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If this is how the owner of The Groom Room treated me, I
can only imagine how he'd treat my dog when I wasn't there to see. And talking of which, I wouldn't even
speak to my <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">dog</i>, with as much
disrespect as he showed to me, a paying customer.</div>
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So yes, my Chinese mom might just have a point, common
courtesy and professionalism far less than pedigree these days, it seems. An extinct breed, right enough, no
wonder she locks herself away from society and craves the good old days where
people knew the meaning of customer service. No wonder, that she'd rather resort to using '666' than go
out into the world in person.</div>
Sam Walkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01042888599773098090noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-848151707328717153.post-26990234071946829652012-04-12T21:14:00.000-07:002020-04-12T21:34:03.289-07:00Me no stupid, me no silly, me hing oan tae ma daddy's willy<br />
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Writers, when was the last time you looked in your documents
folder? Cleaned it out, even? I've spent the entire afternoon doing
that, and not before time for I never have on this computer before, and I've
had it for over two years now - and as someone who's constantly writing, that's
a lotta lotta slush, and I still have my old computer to go through; many
stories on there that I keep meaning to resurrect. Another day.</div>
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All I know is that every time I wanted to open my Prickly
Scots manuscript in Word, that I had to plough through a whole plethora of
stuff even using the 'finder' option on my iMac that's <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">supposed</i> to make it easy. But still, when a
hundred copies of it exist, all with similar titles, it can get a bit
confusing. So what do I do? I take the time to determine which are
no longer current, save them somewhere else, a new folder created purely for
Prickly Scots books, and then I dropped the originals in the trash. 'Hah, ya bastards', I say maniacally,
but still wise enough not to take the trash out yet; <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ye-es</i> been so burnt before with that, that St Pauls admitted me for
two weeks, treating me with cold baths three times a day. And sure enough, when I tried to open
those files, the computer told me in that sanctimonious arrogant voice that may
or may not have been real, that I couldn't cos they were in the trash. So, after rooting through that - a task
that rather unpleasantly reminded me of my impoverished childhood - I reinstated
them and then had the bright idea to start afresh; allocating simple names that
denote each version of them, whether for Kindle or Smashwords, as well as numbering
the parts I, II and I & II - so six in all. "Hah ya bastards," I say again, still not trusting
to empty the trash; trust issues having stuck to my shoe from the murky trail
that led up to the path of my life obviously; long since relying only on my own
direction.</div>
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But, as I was doing this, what I found was a metaphorical
treasure chest, and being a little bit obsessive compulsive (but in a good way,
apparently) I couldn't stop there.
No, I went through each and every document containing the most obscure
titles, which of course weren't titles at all, but the first few words of the document
that I had never named (although there was a piece I wrote entitled. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Scooby Doo,
a Ménage et trois and the Coconut Organs - </i>a travel story about the Seychelles in
the Indian Ocean<span style="font-size: 14pt;">). </span>Ahem<span style="font-size: 14pt;">. </span>Won't be doing
that from hereon in, and in fact I've already named this blog's document, so I
can recognise it instantly in the future.
For that's what I found; tons of blog articles, enzines, short story
entries, complaint letters (my, I am <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">extremely</i>
good at those; I even scared myself) nasty letters to my neighbours (well, he
was neglecting his dog) letters to the SPCA, smart comebacks to various online
sites and forums, absolutely pathetic submission letters for my works (remember
the days we all thought we needed agents? 'Hah, ya bastards.') Millions of poems, tons of reviews that
I've saved from all my little pieces that I realise are flying free
all through the Internet, my college writing notes (very methodically
transcribed, I have to say - impressive - or anal retentive, one of the two,
either way I was obviously a brown noser.) Even other people's manuscripts, some of which I had to
really concentrate hard on to make sure they weren't mine at all, and some from
pseudonyms who <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">are </i>me, but for
'whom' I use different voices
(hence not immediately recognising them.)
Wow! There were so, so many
chapters from my books, the same ones, edited over and over and over all in
separate documents from the one before, so many, many copies of my books and
again individual chapters and excerpts from those same chapters. Projects I've started, and keep meaning
to come back to, countless documents with 'ideas' and things I've heard in
passing, or that occurred to me at some point, and which I never seem to
consult, and a lot more to boot (which I'm surprised my computer was able to,
given how heavily laden it was).
But <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">double</i> that; I remember
making the very unwise choice once upon a time, to have Word automatically
create a back up copy of anything I create, and I still haven't found how to reverse,
so I guess I have a back up of this blog too now. But it's my mission now to find that bastard thing and get
it switched off as well, before it all starts piling up again.</div>
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Now, what about the trash, I hear you scream, well as we say
in Scotland (or, at least <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">we</i> did)
about a man and his son jumping out of an aircraft, for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">whatever</i> reason, with only one parachute - or maybe it was jumping from a block of flats - but anyhoo... 'Me no stupid, me no
silly, me hing oan tae ma daddy's willy) ooh, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">good title</i> for this blog,
ye-es, that'll be sure to bring a few new people to my rambling...
hmmm.... but now if I rename this, I'll have two copies with different titles. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">See
</i>the problem? So feeling
sanctimonious myself now, already decided to blag on this blog about the fact
that not only have I cleaned my house this week due to the outrageously long
time my housekeeper has gone away on holiday for, I cleaned out my computer
too. </div>
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I also had the smarts to find some blank cd's to make copies
of all my books, no cold baths for me this time, ya bastards, and so, not only
doing that, but reinserting them to make sure the bastard computer isn't lying
to me again, I sit back with a metaphorical glass of scotch and a cigar, and
invite the metaphorical neighbours round to witness the delete button being
pressed. But the moment spoiled
when I did; the turncoat saying there was something <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">locked</i> in there, and did I really want to delete that too? 'I mean, like <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">really?'</i> it said impersonating <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Regis
on Who Wants to be a Millionaire</i>, leaving me in doubt all of a sudden, of
something I was <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">so</i> sure about.</div>
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'God no', I thought, bastard's probably an integral part of
fucking <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">everything </i>and I know it weren't
in there yesterday... as an old English friend of mine would 'of' said - cos I
emptied a few less precarious things then. So reinstating it, only <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">perhaps</i>,
back to whenst it came, I tried again, and everything disappeared with that
wonderful whooshy noise like someone's fag end being sucked out an aircraft
toilet, and despite the new files in the new folder, I cringed a little as I
went to open them.</div>
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'Hah, ya bastard, I win," I said.</div>
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Now, I don't do dishes, never have, will hide the dirty
bastards anywhere, under the couch, under the sink, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">whatever</i>, on the patio even, if the dishwasher needs emptying, but
another old friend of mine always said, 'if you rinse, as you go', it won't be
as bad. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Never</i>! I spat into her face, but I think she might just have had a
point.</div>
Sam Walkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01042888599773098090noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-848151707328717153.post-9121561602455453402012-04-11T10:50:00.008-07:002020-04-12T21:34:23.392-07:00When souls attack... fighting back<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">It goes without saying that most of us are sick to death of our frikkin' alternate selves gallivanting through all parallels of existence, damaging the reputation of our purer than pure souls. <i>Right?</i> I mean, when all is said and done, there <i>can</i> only be <i>one</i> soul. So what happens when two corporeal selves actually physically touch (and I know, like me, you've spent many a sleepless night wondering just that)? </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">And what would happen in the metaphorical 'sorting office' if your evil other kills you, will your soul go the right place... the <i>appropriate</i> afterlife? Well this experience I had last night has the answers to that and more - although I have no idea <i>why</i> my alternate self chose to suddenly materialise in my bed; I didn't know whether to be flattered or frightened. This tiny stand-alone chapter of prose (isolated from the regular styling of <a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/141417" target="_blank">Warped Mirrors</a>, a paranormal comedy) is one of two, the second, near the end of the book, a spoiler). So, come, come fly with me through the universe and find out what's there... or <i>not</i>.</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=848151707328717153&postID=912156160245545340&from=pencil" name="ChII"></a><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Ch. II The Universe</span></b></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Silence. I find myself simply being in some natural state amid an endless environment, bottomless, no up, no down, simply direction all around. Freezing, scorching, everything in-between, but yet I do not suffer; I am not burning, nor I am cold, for I am part of it. Floating, soaring, sentient, everywhere at once, and yet nowhere at all, my spirit delivering me both to where I have, and haven’t been. But not for much longer; time, of which there is none, is running out; Divine Intervention losing His tolerance; tranquil infinity bored with such humanly concept. Omnipotent, yes, for in this present I am one with everything that exists and that does not, has once been, but yet to become. Nothing, where I am, not even I, yet I am rich; own all that is not corporeal. No one thing here that can contain any other, yet still they do. And then I see them; magnificent colourful spheres, invisible, so beautifully patterned, remotely scattered within folds of seamless, infinite and intricately weaved fabrics of space, time and dimension, painted by hands of gods, hitherto unimagined vistas. And I am in control, at least for now, master of sorts, a god myself of this divergent realm; the energy encompassing me, obeying the command of simple thought, traversing me through a vast container fashioned simply from all that I am, until it emerges me in some other galaxy, a place, that too, is part of me, or I it. And as I knew it would, it looked exactly as I had always known, even though I had never seen it before in any lifetime. And the solitary planet shimmers luminously; red, amber, green, and above all others, implores me to become a part of it. For I can be, I already am. Entrancing, it is, but entrapping, pitiful, inviting. I don’t want to go, and I won't, though I will arrive in less than an instant, or never in this eternity. But as alluring as it might be, as ensnaring, I <i>will</i> leave if I do; for I can; yes, I am in control of the stellar chariot that draws me towards it - at least for now; stronger than the impostor, I know. Soaring within it, motionless, yet speedily, leisurely, willingly, hesitantly, hurtling towards both a place of euphoria and, perchance, of eternal damnation, if I don’t. A place impossible to comprehend in my waking state, conceived of, <i>perhaps</i>, but impeded by human limitation. And it is as well, for we should not know. I see that now. Beings that lived, that died, burning, thriving, hostile, beguiling, insisting that I befall unto them to be less than all I can be or more than I am. But still, this moment is not mine. Yes, I have a choice, for this celestial crossroad is not my eternal walk home. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Not yet.</span></div>
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Sam Walkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01042888599773098090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-848151707328717153.post-65291760429305116192012-04-04T19:29:00.006-07:002020-04-12T21:35:39.391-07:00Things I’ve come to realise since my cleaning lady went on a seven-week vacation<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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1.<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span>That my life has changed irrevocably, the meaning of ‘line up’ now quantifying the fact that the dishwasher will <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">indeed</i> not empty itself.</div>
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2.<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span>That there might just be something to being a bottle collector; I could most certainly supplement my income with the amount of empties that I’ve just had to deposit for those less fortunate - either that or I could learn a new musical skill.</div>
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3.<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span>That my fridge might just be a portal to new worlds with intelligent life forms.</div>
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4.<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span>That it’s not <i>just</i> politicians with dirty little secrets hidden within their cabinets.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 6.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
5.<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span>That unlike the dishwasher, my oven <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">will </i>clean itself even if its skill does seem to be restricted; missing the nooks and crannies of the hotplates as it does, but no matter how much I try to encourage it, the microwave just can’t match <i>those</i> obliterating kind of temperatures; what just might be inspiration for a wanna be Picasso evident on all three sides, top and bottom.</div>
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6.<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span>Where the expression ‘breeding like rabbits’ was begat from when I looked under the furniture.</div>
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7.<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span>That ‘Lysol Ultimate Bathroom Cleaner’ might ultimately rein from the bathroom throne; providing shining hope for the murky minions there, ‘tapping’ into its skills even in the kitchen, but for whatever reason it has a grudge against my beautiful wooden dining table; wiping it clean, sure, but beating it into a dull submission ‘to just think about that!’</div>
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8.<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span>That it is <i>not </i>minor earthquakes in the region, <i>after</i> all, that make the pictures on my wall askew from time to time, for there have been a couple of shakes recently and still they’re as straight as the last time I adjusted them just after my cleaner left two weeks ago.</div>
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9.<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span>That windows of opportunity ‘clothes’ themselves when doors doubling as laundry baskets no longer will.</div>
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10.<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span>That despite Nancy Sinatra’s claim; shoes do <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not</i> take on a life of their own.</div>
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11.<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span>That, in contrast to number ten, toys really <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">do</i> come alive when no one’s around – either that or someone’s running a doggy day care here when I’m out.</div>
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12.<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span>That judging by the water’s absolute refusal to drain in the shower, it might just be time for a haircut.</div>
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13.<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span>That the outdoors has, under false pretences, taken credit far too long for the fresh aroma of nature that I always thought was particularly skilled in permeating, even in winter, the smallest cracks of my doors and windows.</div>
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14.<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span>That contrary to what their name suggests about their disposition, baseboards really <i>don’t</i> skirt any issues at all.</div>
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15.<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span>That the dog doesn’t mind taking a bath now, not after the last time I rinsed him down in there; the tub doing a highly impressive impression of the dank mucky puddle up the park.</div>
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16.<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span>That there’s no treasure in that old trunk in my study as I always fancied there might be. No, now I have to put that retirement plan to bed! (See what I did there?)</div>
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17.<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span>That silver <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">might</i> just be an impostor; in fact it’s a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">cotton</i> lining to be discovered behind every soft downy cloud.</div>
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18.<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span>That my bathroom windowsill might have a point; spreading gossip that I’m metrosexual as has been its tendency of late; perhaps its time to go back in the closet?</div>
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19.<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span>That if you don’t pick up the party favour from your Godson’s christening - a love heart shaped picture frame attached to a nicely tied blue ribbon containing iced chocolate almonds - that fell on the floor when you were cleaning the dresser, that the dog will accuse you of having held out on him all this time. Yes... a false labour saving method is the art of procrastination when one considers the mark on the carpet that the ingestion of his very first taste of sugar will undoubtedly deposit later. </div>
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20.<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span>That the canine species might just be more intuitive than we think, vacuums really are obnoxious sucky bastards.</div>
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21.<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span>But the biggest thing I’ve learned since my cleaning lady abandoned me? That what highly manipulative parents say is true; anything <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">can</i> be turned into a game; stopping in-between chores to write these little notes and rather enjoying it, the place sparkling now to the point where I might have missed my vocation – but I rather suspect that’ll be a one time deal only - but at least I got to write as well.<br />
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22. That I might not be paying her enough - but... then again... anyone who can take a frikkin' seven week unpaid vacation, might just be doing better than me!</div>
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I think I’m good for two weeks now, only five to wade my way through.</div>
Sam Walkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01042888599773098090noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-848151707328717153.post-75304987137053035322012-04-02T14:43:00.010-07:002020-04-12T21:36:03.629-07:00Oh... comma-on now!<div class="MsoBodyText">
Oh geez! Even though I swore blind I'd never <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">personally</i> ever look at one (in particular) of my earlier books again in terms of editing, somehow what I used to think was really great now makes me cringe with embarrassment pretty much no matter what excerpt I randomly choose from it - at least in terms of technical skill, not the storyline itself. And yes, I had a few people proofread it too - and I trust that they advised to the best of their ability... at <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">that</i> time. But it obviously didn’t cut it – unless my standards are, as I've been told, <i>too</i> high? (But can there even <i>be</i> a limit to quality?)</div>
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I really think I'm going to have to though, go through that book in its entirety in terms of the little things, that is. Comma over-usage for one - something I've long since known about myself and thus far have tried to dismiss as being unimportant enough to not have to go back in and fix in older works. But now that I've looked, I feel that the overuse is just <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">completely</i> unacceptable. Thankfully its something I'm not guilty of anymore but it does leave me wondering how I could've been so over-exuberant in the first place? </div>
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I dread the thought of doing this edit though. Perhaps I have to approach it methodically; one chapter at a time and only when I <i>really</i> feel like it (which will be absolutely NEVER) and try not to completely rewrite every sentence as I always want to do when I go back over most of my old stuff; time consuming to the point where I could've written a couple of brand new novels at least <i>and </i>without the same kind of stress attached. </div>
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I have numerous projects on the go at the moment, but somehow it's in my head now that this edit <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">has </i>to take priority. Funny thing is though, that I wonder if the general reader even <i>notices</i>, or <i>cares</i> if they do; people do seem to love the book and no mention ever made of the stuff I, as the (erstwhile) proud daddy of, wanna change – such as a lack of contractions - something I <i>still </i>have to check myself for forgetting to use. Anyone would think my name was Data.</div>
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I wonder if I'm just being obsessive, or if every writer goes through this? Will there be something <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">else</i> I want to change in six months time about that same book? Would it be better not to even look at my old stuff and just get on with what I'm doing now?</div>
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One thing's for sure though; I have long since adopted a 'say it as it is' policy when helping out other new writers - a polite honesty for which I've often been berated in amateur societies where most stroke each other's egos, and so these days I only employ any help I think I can offer where I think it might <i>actually</i> be wanted... nay... where <i>deserved</i>. But I say, if there was more of it instead of treading on eggshells, perhaps later on in the writing journey people like me wouldn't be looking back thinking like I do now and wasting so much time correcting everything. Yes, that's right, it wasn't <i>my</i> fault! Lol. </div>
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But I guess that's <i>why</i> it's called a journey; a nice place to arrive at when you do, somewhere to breathe out the view; things suddenly starting to make sense without you even realising it. And when you <i>really</i> think about it, to have these kinds of moments where you just want to open up a time portal and go back and slap yourself silly - or in my case, grab myself by the crown of the hair and bash my head hard right through to the back of my computer repeatedly until it sinks in once and for all - can only be a <i>good</i> thing.</div>
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I’m doing the first chapter today – even though I think I might’ve done that one the last time I stressed out about comma usage; masking it in the first couple of chapters, sneakily leading the reader to believe these wouldn’t be overused in the rest of the story, but hopefully <i>hooked</i> by that point, they wouldn't care a hoot. But then again, <i>would</i> they notice, <i>really</i>? I mean, if someone well on their way on their writer's journey didn't when they actually employed them, would a <i>reader</i> know any better? Hmmm - perhaps the answer to that is, only the more discerning ones would.</div>
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But I've promised myself to just try and concentrate on the obvious minor things and not do a complete rewrite this time - and maybe that'll be the next thing I'll discover that I've subliminally learned on this never-ending journey. Huh - ye-ah... and I'll also discover I was the winner of the mega-millions even though I didn't actually have a ticket.</div>
Sam Walkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01042888599773098090noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-848151707328717153.post-44293424537079648762012-02-11T11:49:00.001-08:002020-04-12T21:36:13.716-07:00Online Branding<div class="MsoNormal">
Twice in the last week I’ve vowed that I’ll never write again. And I have urges to get out of bed at four in the morning to delete everything that I’ve ever made available on the Internet, including all my social media accounts ‘cos I think I’m no better at socialising digitally than I ever have been in person. Lol at that ‘cos I know what it means - I simply need a break. It boils down to my lone wolf tendency; I should know that by now.</div>
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It’s not that I don’t socialise well, it’s just that I prefer more intimate settings, relationships with meaning, the kind that I’ve always been particular about allowing into my life; somewhat of an introvert in the true sense; able to be the life and soul (and how) but needing adequate amount of time in my own company shortly thereafter to reenergise before I can do it all over again. New people coming into my (real) life often saying that I’m not the same person they met before, even <i>looking</i> different; confusing them, making them think I’m a bit weird. But I’m used to that, embrace it actually, add it to my repertoire of self-acclaimed eccentricity, jokingly calling myself as I do on this blog bio, a bit of a Sybil. The people that know me wouldn't be without it. Trust me I've tried.</div>
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Some people are great at branding themselves; constantly engaging others with seemingly light-hearted comments on Facebook and Twitter – even non-writers, I’ve noticed, who're unaware perhaps that this is what they’re actually doing in a sense. But sure enough, an introspective, over-analytical mind like mine has soon built up an FBI profile of them and smiles at their natural ability all the while thinking <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">why can’t I do that</i>? <br />
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The reason though is that I think I'm ingratiating myself all over the place, that people get sick of seeing me, thinking <i>God not him again</i>.<br />
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Then there are those I can tell <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">are </i>trying to brand, coming across as a bit contrived really and nonetheless great at it. But that’s what we have to do these days as writers. Apparently. Yes, gone, it seems to me anyway, is the luxury of the sensitive artist type to be able to slink off to their dens to view the world by their quiet contemplative introspective from where their greatest works arise. An unspoken understanding by others that they're meant to be misunderstood. I don't think that's the case anymore.</div>
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But I can’t pretend to be just one person - even though I know of course I really am before anyone thinks I need a psychiatrist - for when I try to choose an online persona, usually in the quiet of night, that persona makes all the others in my personal clique wanna puke the next day when they read back what it wrote; mid-morning persona promptly deleting it. ‘No’, it insists, ‘that’s not representative of all of us at all at all (for it can be Irish) or, it feels, 'just a bit too revealing for a private person... so it is.' </div>
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But I think what I've come to realise is this; the initial inclination that I had when describing myself online as a bit of a Sybil when I first started out, is the one I should stick with. Yes, I should fine tune it, concentrate on a multifaceted me instead of having to choose just one perhaps. Have fun with it, for I think that’s the only way I <i>can</i> be comfortable, can be <i>truly</i> represented, if I have to present myself, because for me that has to be paramount. But I do think one persona might have to take control, not allow any of the others to press the delete button; <i>showcase</i> that unpredictability of the kind readers say is evident in my writing. Market <i>that</i>.<br />
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Anyway, gotta go, have a lunch reservation for seven; wonder what the <span lang="EN-US">maître d</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a;">'</span>will think when only one person turns up – well okay then, the girl behind the counter at Subway.</div>
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Sam Walkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01042888599773098090noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-848151707328717153.post-84023081235993329362012-02-03T14:19:00.002-08:002020-04-12T21:36:52.917-07:00Old fashioned pens... not!<div class="MsoNormal">
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Today I feel like griping a little.</div>
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I know a lady who’s always saying that they don’t make things like they used to, a lady whose house could probably match the bomb shelter in that movie... the one with Brendan Fraser in a time warp... for she's bought nothing new in years - despite being incredibly rich. And she might be right.</div>
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In my business, I do have to jot things down with a pen quite frequently, electronics not entirely appropriate, and despite the fact I literally have hundreds of biros and gel pens – trays of which I buy at Costco - anytime I pick one up, it doesn’t work. No amount of scratching around on the paper, ripping it to shreds in the process will make it write (or right) after its initial use of scratching a few words and its cap being removed; dried up like a Middle Eastern riverbed – the kind they use for wadi bashing (the practise of recklessly four-wheel driving in places like Dubai). And pencils too, somehow every one of those never sharp enough to jot something down with despite being sharpened regularly. Now <i>that</i> I can get over, I'm heavy handed with certain things, but the pens, all of them, often not working as soon as they’re taken from the tray even? Outrageous. Indeed I have to agree, they don't make things like they used to... why, I remember a pen would last me a whole semester at school until it burst in my shirt pocket... now <i>that's</i> a writing implement.</div>
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No wonder everything seems to be mightier than the pen these days. Oh... and I walked barefoot fifteen miles in the snow to get to school an' all....</div>
Sam Walkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01042888599773098090noreply@blogger.com1